title: An investigation of paper based microfluidic devices for size based separation and extraction applications.
abstract: Conventional microfluidic devices are typically complex and expensive. The devices require the use of pneumatic control systems or highly precise pumps to control the flow in the devices. This work investigates an alternative method using paper based microfluidic devices to replace conventional microfluidic devices. Size based separation and extraction experiments conducted were able to separate free dye from a mixed protein and dye solution. Experimental results showed that pure fluorescein isothiocyanate could be separated from a solution of mixed fluorescein isothiocyanate and fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled bovine serum albumin. The analysis readings obtained from a spectrophotometer clearly show that the extracted tartrazine sample did not contain any amount of Blue-BSA, because its absorbance value was 0.000 measured at a wavelength of 590nm, which correlated to Blue-BSA. These demonstrate that paper based microfluidic devices, which are inexpensive and easy to implement, can potentially replace their conventional counterparts by the use of simple geometry designs and the capillary action. These findings will potentially help in future developments of paper based microfluidic devices.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore. Electronic address: mzwzhong@ntu.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Z W
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 71 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 638075, Singapore.
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 71 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 638075, Singapore.
authors.forename: Z P
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004867:Equipment Design; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010209:Paper; D011506:Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013645:Tartrazine
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D011506:Proteins; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D013645:Tartrazine
keywords: Extraction; Fluorescein Isothiocyanate; Microfluidic; Paper based devices; Protein; Separation