Novel 3D Printed Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Device With Integrated Screen-Printed Electrodes for Automated Viscosity Measurements

Various miniaturized viscometers have been developed utilizing several fabrication methods. Among them, microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (it PADs) are becoming popular due to their fabrication ease, cost-effectiveness, and the fact that the flow can be carried out using the embedded capillaries themselves. Mostly, APADs are reported to be fabricated by a solid-ink printer, which has significantly high capital and operational cost. To overcome such drawbacks, a novel rapid prototyping method has been proposed, wherein the formation of the hydrophobic regions was created by polycaprolactone (PCL) filament using a 3-D printer. To leverage this, ittPAD as a viscometer, velocity, or time between two points with known distances was required, which was carried out by an amperometric approach, established by fabricating the integrated screen printed electrodes intersecting the microchannel of the p,PAD. The time measurement was fully automated by a microcontroller, and the relative viscosity was calculated by comparing the time taken by the reference fluid with that of a test fluid to cover a known length. Such integrated, automated, and low-cost paper-based microviscometer was leveraged to measure and analyze the viscosities of various milk variants, which has an accuracy of >92%.