Fabrication of Versatile Channel Flow Cells for Quantitative Electroanalysis Using Prototyping

Snowden, Michael, King, Philip, Covington, James, Macpherson, Julie and Unwin, Patrick (2010) Fabrication of Versatile Channel Flow Cells for Quantitative Electroanalysis Using Prototyping. Analytical Chemistry, 82 (8), 3124-3131.

Abstract

Here we demonstrate the use of microstereolithography (MSL), a 3D direct manufacturing technique, as a viable method to produce small-scale microfluidic components for electrochemical flow detection. The flow cell is assembled simply by resting the microfabricated component on the electrode of interest and securing with thread! This configuration allows the use of a wide range of electrode materials. Furthermore, our approach eliminates the need for additional sealing methods, such as adhesives, waxes, and screws, which have previously been deployed. In addition, it removes any issues associated with compression of the cell chamber. MSL allows a reduction of the dimensions of the channel geometry (and the resultant component) and, compared to most previously produced devices, it offers a high degree of flexibility in the design, reduced manufacture time, and high reliability. Importantly, the polymer utilized does not distort so that the cell maintains well-defined geometrical dimensions after assembly. For the studies herein the channel dimensions were 3 mm wide, 3.5 mm long, and 192 or 250 ?m high. The channel flow cell dimensions were chosen to ensure that the substrate electrodes experienced laminar flow conditions, even with volume flow rates of up to 64 mL min?1 (the limit of our pumping system). The steady-state transport-limited current response, for the oxidation of ferrocenylmethyl trimethylammonium hexaflorophosphate (FcTMA+), at gold and polycrystalline boron doped diamond (pBDD) band electrodes was in agreement with the Levich equation and/or finite element simulations of mass transport. We believe that this method of creating and using channel flow electrodes offers a wide range of new applications from electroanalysis to electrocatalysis.

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