Sustainable wood microfluidics for versatile electrochemical studies with proof-of-concept application towards environmental nitrate sensing

Abstract

The adoption of single-use plastics for fabricating lab-on-chip devices used in sensors, chemical and biomedical processes is escalating into a major environmental issue. To address the global need for developing long-term sustainable solutions, we present wood microfluidics as an alternative for electrochemical sensing. The lab-on-wood-chip (LOWC) device developed in this study demonstrated (i) versatility in electrochemical applications (electropolymerization and corrosion analysis), (ii) stability under highly acidic (pH 0.5), basic (pH 14.0) and varied temperature (4°–60 °C) conditions (iii) long-term consistency in performance (>12 months), and (iv) potential for on-field nitrate sensing towards environmental monitoring – in a cost-effective, simple and sustainable manner.