Publication
Title
Dual microfluidic sensor system for enriched electrochemical profiling and identification of illicit drugs on-site
Author
Abstract
Electrochemical sensors have emerged as a new analytical tool for illicit drug detection to facilitate ultrafast and accurate identification of suspicious compounds on-site. Drugs of abuse can be identified using their unique voltammetric fingerprint at a given pH. Today, the right buffer solution is manually selected based on drug appearance, and in some cases, a consecutive analysis in two different pH solutions is required. In this work, we present a disposable microfluidic multichannel sensor system that automatically records fingerprints in two pH solutions (e.g., pH 5 and pH 12). This system has two advantages. It will overcome the manual selection of a buffer solution at the right pH, decrease analysis time, and minimize the risk of human errors. Second, the combination of two fingerprints, the superfingerprint, contains more detailed information about the samples, which enhances the selectivity of the analytical technique. First, real-time pH measurements proved that the sample can be brought to the desired pH within a minute. Subsequently, an electrochemical study on the microfluidic platform with 1 mM illicit drug standards of MDMA, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine showed that the characteristic voltammetric fingerprints and peak potentials are reproducible, also in the presence of common cutting agents. Finally, the microfluidic concept was validated with real confiscated samples, showing promising results for the user-friendly identification of drugs of abuse. In short, this paper presents a successful proof-of-concept study of a multichannel microfluidic sensor system to enrich the fingerprints of illicit drugs at pH 5 and pH 12, thus providing a low-cost, portable, and rapid identification system of illicit drugs with minimal user intervention.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Analytical chemistry. - Washington, D.C., 1948, currens
Publication
Washington, D.C. : 2024
ISSN
0003-2700 [print]
5206-882X [online]
DOI
10.1021/ACS.ANALCHEM.3C05039
Volume/pages
96 :1 (2024) , p. 590-598
ISI
001139443500001
Pubmed ID
38154077
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Border detection of illicit drugs and precursors by highly accurate electrosensors (BorderSens).
Microsen - Elucidating anti-biofouling on nanoporous gold surfaces: toward microneedle devices for continuous drug sensing.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 03.01.2024
Last edited 29.06.2024
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