The future is now: 3D-printed microextraction devices

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Design and fabricate your own extraction devices in a cheap and rapid way. This is the main conclusion that we can infer after reading an article recently accepted for publication in Analytical Chemistry. This dream has come true by our colleagues form the National Tsing-Hua University at Taiwan (1). They have designed a solid phase extraction device which has been finally fabricated in acrylate using a 3D printer. The fabrication time (approximately 38 min) and the cost of each unit (US$ 1.5) are really motivating.

The extraction device consists of a microfluidic channel where cuboids of defined dimensions are printed on surface to increase the superficial area and thus the extraction kinetics. The device presents a high permeability, it allows the use of high sample flow rates (essential to pass larger sample volumes allowing high preconcentration factors) and it is easy to regenerate. In addition, it can be easily adapted to flow systems as it can work with low-pressure pumping systems. The original design is freely available on internet in the supplementary material of the article.

The device has been employed for the extraction of cations from complex samples (including urine) which are finally determined by ICP-MS. The selection of the extractor material is key for this purpose as acrylate presents cation exchange properties when working at the appropriate pH. The achieved limits of detection (low ng/L range) and the accuracy (evaluated with reference materials) demonstrate of the potential of the device.

We hope you will enjoy reading the article.

Reference:
(1) Fully 3D-Printed Preconcentrator for Selective Extraction of Trace Elements in Seawater. Link to the article

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