A multifunctional lab-on-a-chip platform for spectroscopic analysis of liquid samples based on an optofluidic jet waveguide is reported. The optofluidic detection scheme is achieved through the total internal reflection arising in a liquid jet of only 150 μm diameter, leading to highly efficient signal excitation and collection. This results in an optofluidic chip with an alignment-free spectroscopic detection scheme, which avoids any background from the sample container. This platform has been designed for multiwavelength fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy. The chip integrates a recirculation system that reduces the required sample volume. The evaluation of the device performance has been accomplished by means of fluorescence measurements performed on eosin Y in water solutions, achieving a limit of detection of 33 pM. The sensor has been applied in Raman spectroscopy of water-ethanol solutions, leading to a limit of detection of 0.18%. As additional application, analysis of riboflavin using fluorescence detection demonstrates the possibility of detecting this vitamin at the 560 pM level (0.21 ng l). Although measurements have been performed by means of a compact and low-cost spectrometer, in both cases the micro-jet optofluidic chip achieved similar performances if not better than high-end benchtop based laboratory equipment. This approach paves the way towards portable lab-on-a-chip devices for high sensitivity environmental and biochemical sensing, using optical spectroscopy.
The inkjet printing (IJP) technique is generally used as tool for positioning small quantities of a liquid material on a target substrate. An interesting application of IJP is inkjet etching that consists of the deposition of drops of solvent or solvent mixtures onto a soluble polymer layer. This technique allows one to structure the polymer film and to change the shape, from concave to convex, by varying the mixing ratio of the solvents. In this work, the structuring of some polymeric layers (polyimide and polystyrene) by solvents [N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and toluene (TOL)] and a solvent mixture (TOL-NMP) at different mixing ratios were studied, and the effect of the printing parameters on the microstructural profile was investigated. Some applications in optoelectronic devices are described.
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