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In this work, we report a papertronic sensing system with the ability to achieve easy, rapid, and sensitive characterization of bacterial electrogenicity from a single drop of culture. Paper was used as a device substrate that inherently produces favorable conditions for easy, rapid, and sensitive and potentially high-throughput controlling of a microbial liquid sample. Through an innovative microscale device structure and a simple transistor amplifier circuit directly integrated into a single sheet of paper substrate, a powerful sensing array was constructed, resulting in the rapid and sensitive characterization of bacterial electrogenicity from a microliter sample volume. The microbial current generations were amplified by the transistor providing power to a 4-wide LED circuit board indicator bar for the direct visual readout with the naked eyes. Depending on bacterial electrogenicity, the LED intensity was changed. We validated the effectiveness of the sensor using two known bacterial electrogens (wild-type S. oneidensis and P. aeruginosa) and hypothesis-driven genetically modified P. aeruginosa mutant strains.
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A Fully-Papertronic Biosensing Array for High-Throughput Characterization of Microbial Electrogenicity
For the first time, we report a low-cost, disposable fully-papertronic screening platform for rapid screening and identification of electroactive microorganisms. This novel papertronic device is capable of simultaneous characterizing the electrogenicity of 10’s of the newly discovered, genetically engineered, bacteria. This work explored an exciting range of possibilities with the goal of fusing microbial fuel cell technology with ‘papertronics,’ the emerging field of paper-based electronics. Spatially distinct 64 sensing units of the array were constructed by patterning hydrophilic anodic reservoirs in paper with hydrophobic wax boundaries and utilizing 3-D multi-laminate paper structures. Full integration of a high-performance microbial sensor on paper can be achieved by improving the microbial electron exchange with the electrodes in an engineered conductive paper reservoir and reducing cathodic overpotential by using a solid electron acceptor on paper. Furthermore, the intrinsic capillary force of the paper and the increased capacity from the engineered reservoir allowed for rapid adsorption of the bacterial sample and promote immediate microbial cell attachment to the electrode, leading to instant power generation with even a small amount of the liquid.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1703394
- PAR ID:
- 10106010
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2018
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 6076 to 6079
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/EMBC.2018.8513677
