A Novel Physical Sensing Principle for Liquid Characterization Using Paper-Based Hygro-Mechanical Systems (PB-HMS)

Abstract

In recent years paper-based microfluidic systems have emerged as versatile tools for developing sensors in different areas. In this work; we report a novel physical sensing principle for the characterization of liquids using a paper-based hygro-mechanical system (PB-HMS). The PB-HMS is formed by the interaction of liquid droplets and paper-based mini-structures such as cantilever beams. The proposed principle takes advantage of the hygroscopic properties of paper to produce hygro-mechanical motion. The dynamic response of the PB-HMS reveals information about the tested liquid that can be applied to characterize certain properties of liquids. A suggested method to characterize liquids by means of the proposed principle is introduced. The experimental results show the feasibility of such a method. It is expected that the proposed principle may be applied to sense properties of liquids in different applications where both disposability and portability are of extreme importance.

Tuning the hygro-mechanical response of paper-based systems using glycerol

“…Several paper-based devices found in the openliterature are oriented toward chemical sensing such as the micro Paper-based Analytical Devices (uPADs). These devices take advantage of the capillarity and absorbency of paper to offer quick and straightforward detection in different areas such as health diagnosis (Kumar et al, 2015;Talalak et al, 2015;Yen et al, 2015), environmental detection (Cate et al, 2015;Guo et al, 2016;Satarpai et al, 2016), and beverage analysis (Hossain et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2014;Perez-Cruz et al, 2017a;Zhang et al, 2015). Some authors have explored the possibility of constructing paper-based devices working on a physical sensing principle.…”

“…It should be noted that these devices are subjected to static or quasi-static loads. However, some authors have recently started to explore the mechanical response of paper when subjected to dynamic loads (Cueva-Perez et al, 2019; Perez-Cruz et al, 2017b; Wang et al, 2018a) in response to the recent growing of devices oriented toward applications such as energy harvesting.…”