An All-Glass Microfluidic Network with Integrated Amorphous Silicon Photosensors for on-Chip Monitoring of Enzymatic Biochemical Assay

Francesca Costantini; Roald M Tiggelaar; Riccardo Salvio; Marco Nardecchia; Stefan Schlautmann; Cesare Manetti; Han J G E Gardeniers; Giampiero de Cesare; Domenico Caputo; Augusto Nascetti

doi:10.3390/bios7040058

An All-Glass Microfluidic Network with Integrated Amorphous Silicon Photosensors for on-Chip Monitoring of Enzymatic Biochemical Assay

Biosensors (Basel). 2017 Dec 5;7(4):58. doi: 10.3390/bios7040058.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, via Salaria n. 851/881, 00138 Rome, Italy. francesca.costantini@uniroma1.it.
² Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, p.le Aldo Moro n.5, 00185 Rome, Italy. francesca.costantini@uniroma1.it.
³ Mesoscale Chemical Systems, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. r.m.tiggelaar@utwente.nl.
⁴ NanoLab cleanroom, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. r.m.tiggelaar@utwente.nl.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, p.le Aldo Moro n.5, 00185 Rome, Italy. riccardo.salvio@uniroma1.it.
⁶ School of Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, via Salaria n. 851/881, 00138 Rome, Italy. marco.nardecchia@uniroma1.it.
⁷ Mesoscale Chemical Systems, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. s.schlautmann@utwente.nl.
⁸ Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, p.le Aldo Moro n.5, 00185 Rome Italy. cesare.manetti@uniroma1.it.
⁹ Mesoscale Chemical Systems, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. j.g.e.gardeniers@utwente.nl.
¹⁰ Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana, 18, 00184 Rome, Italy. giampiero.decesare@uniroma1.it.
¹¹ Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana, 18, 00184 Rome, Italy. domenico.caputo@uniroma1.it.
¹² School of Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, via Salaria n. 851/881, 00138 Rome, Italy. augusto.nascetti@uniroma1.it.

Abstract

A lab-on-chip system, integrating an all-glass microfluidics and on-chip optical detection, was developed and tested. The microfluidic network is etched in a glass substrate, which is then sealed with a glass cover by direct bonding. Thin film amorphous silicon photosensors have been fabricated on the sealed microfluidic substrate preventing the contamination of the micro-channels. The microfluidic network is then made accessible by opening inlets and outlets just prior to the use, ensuring the sterility of the device. The entire fabrication process relies on conventional photolithographic microfabrication techniques and is suitable for low-cost mass production of the device. The lab-on-chip system has been tested by implementing a chemiluminescent biochemical reaction. The inner channel walls of the microfluidic network are chemically functionalized with a layer of polymer brushes and horseradish peroxidase is immobilized into the coated channel. The results demonstrate the successful on-chip detection of hydrogen peroxide down to 18 μM by using luminol and 4-iodophenol as enhancer agent.

Keywords: amorphous silicon photosensors; chemiluminescent based assay; lab-on-chip; microfluidic channel; surface functionalization.

MeSH terms

Biosensing Techniques*
Enzyme Assays / methods*
Equipment Design
Glass*
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices*
Luminescent Measurements / methods
Microfluidic Analytical Techniques*
Microfluidics* / instrumentation
Microfluidics* / methods
Photochemical Processes*
Silicon*

Substances

Silicon