A novel one-step fabricated, droplet-based electrochemical sensor for facile biochemical assays

Abstract

A simple, novel concept for the one-step fabrication of a low-cost, easy-to-use droplet-based electrochemical (EC) sensor is described, in which the EC reagents are contained in a droplet and the droplet assay is operated on a simple planar surface instead of in a complicated closed channel/chamber. In combination with an elegant carbon electrode configuration, screen-printed on a widely available polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate, the developed sensor exhibits a stable solution-restriction capacity and acceptable EC response, and thus can be used directly for the detection of different analytes (including ascorbic acid (AA), copper ions (Cu2+), 2′-deoxyguanosine 5′-triphosphate (dGTP) and ferulic acid (FA)), without any pretreatment. The obtained, acceptable linear ranges/detection limits for AA, Cu2+, dGTP and FA are 0.5–10/0.415 mM, (0.0157–0.1574 and 0.1574–1.5736)/0.011 mM, 0.01–0.1/0.008 mM and 0.0257–0.515/0.024 mM, respectively. Finally, the utility of the droplet-based EC sensor was demonstrated for the determination of AA in two commercial beverages, and of Cu2+ in two water samples, with reliable recovery and good stability. The applicability of the droplet-based sensor demonstrates that the proposed EC strategy is potentially a cost-effective solution for a series of biochemical sensing applications in public health, environmental monitoring, and the developing world.