Numerical Study of the Electrothermal Effect on the Kinetic Reaction of Immunoassays for a Microfluidic Biosensor

In this work, we simulate the binding reaction of C-reactive protein in a microchannel of a biosensor. A problem that arises in this device concerns the transport of the analyte toward the reaction surface of the biosensor, which is of a very small dimension. The limitation of mass transport causes the formation of a diffusion boundary layer and restrains the whole kinetic reaction. To enhance the performance of the biosensor by improving the transport, an applied AC electric field and flow confinement are used to stir the flow field. The numerical simulation of these mechanisms on the binding reaction is performed using the finite element method. Swirling patterns are generated in the fluid. They enhance the transport of the analyte and confine it near the reaction surface. The location of the electrode pair on the walls of the microchannel for the design of the biosensor has been studied to find out the effects of varying geometric configurations on the binding efficiency. The best performances of the biosensor are obtained when the electrodes are placed on the same wall of the microchannel as the reaction surface. For the best case, under the effect of the applied electric field alone, the enhancement factors raise up to 2.46 and 2.10 for the association and dissociation phases, respectively. By contrast, under the effect of the electric field with flow confinement, the enhancement factors for the association and the dissociation phases jump to 3.43 and 2.97, respectively, for 30:1 flow confinement (ratio of confining to sample flow).