Gold polycarbonate microchannels for electrochemical applications

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, we present gold‐plating polycarbonate (PC) microchannels. The fabrication of the gold microfluidic channels is achieved by tuning the sequence of reagent insertion into milled and closed submillimeter PC system channels. The resulting gold surface can be utilized in many applications where the benefits of microfluidics, (bio)chemistry of surfaces, and electrochemistry can be combined.Here, we combine the advantages of electrochemistry with microfluidics by mixing the gold sensor with microfluidics. This approach differs from the classic one – the sensor will undergo modifications (e. g., shape and size) depending on the specific scientific problem and will be designed individually; hence its characteristics will be changed. Our goal in this work is to indicate new possibilities for combining two methodologies – electrochemistry and microfluidics. In our work, we emphasize that it confirms the validity of our chosen concept (proof‐of‐concept).In this work, we present one such application, the use of a gold microfluidic channel as a working electrode (WE). We describe the microchip‘s construction and electrochemical characterization, including the gold flow‐through WE, the Ag/AgCl wire pseudo‐reference, and the Pt auxiliary electrode. The measured current is the result of the flow through a rectangular duct of the gold microchannel electrode embedded in the four walls of the chip.