Enhancement of Heterogeneous Microfluidic Immunosensors Using New Sensing Area Shape with Electrothermal Effect

In heterogeneous microfluidic immunosensors, the diffusion boundary layer produced on the sensing area represents a critical factor that limits the biosensor performance. A three-dimensional simulation using the finite element method on the binding reaction kinetics of C-reactive protein (CRP) has been performed. We present a new microfluidic biosensor based on a novel reaction-surface design without and with electrothermal force. Two reaction surface configurations were studied. The kinetic reaction rate was calculated with coupled Navier-Stokes, mass diffusion, energy, and Laplace equations. The numerical results reveal that the characteristics of a microfluidic biosensor are more enhanced by using the circular ring design of the sensing area coupled with the electrothermal force. The rate of initial slope related to the association phase is multiplied by a factor 2 when the voltage is increased from 10 to 15 V. The results prove to be valuable in designing new microfluidic biosensors.

Automated summary

The study focused on the application of a novel reaction-surface design and electrothermal force in microfluidic immunosensors, demonstrating that the characteristics of the biosensor are enhanced by using a circular ring design of the sensing area. The results also showed that the initial slope related to the association phase is multiplied by a factor of 2 when the voltage is increased from 10 to 15 V, which is valuable for designing new microfluidic biosensors.