Pesticide determination by enzymatic inhibition and amperometric detection in a low-temperature cofired ceramics microsystem

Among the several fabrication techniques used to construct microflow systems, the low-temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) technology, taking advantage of its multilayer approach, is one of the most versatile ones. It permits the integration of several unitary operations of an analytical process in a modular or monolithic way. Moreover, due to its perfect compatibility with screen-printing techniques, it also permits the integration of electronic components used to control the whole system setup. In this work the design, construction, and evaluation of a miniaturized analyzer for pesticide determination that integrates a pretreatment stage, based on two mixers or reactors, and an amperometric detection system to measure the product of an enzymatic inhibition reaction are presented. The detection system was monolithically integrated in the microfluidic platform, and it consisted of a screen-printed reference electrode and two platinum sheets, acting as auxiliary and working electrodes, which were embedded within the ceramic structure. The miniaturized system was characterized and successfully evaluated by determining carbofuran at the nanomolar level.