Fabrication of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices by filtration-assisted screen printing

Abstract In recent years, the paper-based microfluidics has been gaining attention because it is regarded as an inexpensive tool for detection and analysis in biomedical applications and clinical settings. This report, for the first time, describes a relatively simple and fast method, i.e. filtration-assisted screen printing (FASP) that can produce microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPAD) at ambient condition with time for constructing the channel wall of fluidic channel as less as 30 s. The channel walls are constructed by the polymer retained inside the filter paper at the designated locations through filtration. It is found that the flow behavior inside the channels was affected by the channel width while the influence of filtration time on the channel dimensions and porosity is minimal. Detection of glucose was demonstrated using the μPAD as fabricated. The proposed method provides a fast and reliable alternative to other state-of-the-art fabrication techniques, which can facilitate in extending the research and development in paper-based microfluidics.