Double-sided microfluidic device for speciation analysis of iron in water samples: Towards greener analytical chemistry

Abstract

© The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry. Microfluidics minimize the amounts of reagents and generate less waste. While microdevices are commonly single-sided, producing a substrate with microchannels on multiple surfaces would increase their usefulness. Herein, a polymethymethacrylate substrate incorporating microchannel structures on two sides was sandwiched between two polydimethylsiloxane sheets to create a multi-analysis device, which was used for the spectrophotometric analysis of the ferrous ion (Fe2+) and the ferric ion (Fe3+), by utilizing colorimetric detection. To monitor the signals from both channel networks, dual optical sensors were integrated into the system. The linear ranges for Fe2+and Fe3+analyses were 0.1 - 20 mg L-1(R2= 0.9988) and 1.0 - 40 mg L-1(R2= 0.9974), respectively. The detection limits for Fe2+and Fe3+were 0.1 and 0.5 mg L-1, respectively. The percent recoveries of Fe2+and Fe3+were 93.5 - 104.3 with an RSD < 8%. The microdevice demonstrated capabilities for simultaneous analysis, low waste generation (7.2 mL h-1), and high sample throughput (180 h-1), making it ideal for greener analytical chemistry applications.