This paper describes for the first time the use of a 3D pen to fabricate paper-based analytical devices. 3D pens are usually commercialized as “toy for children” and a kit containing four units and a handheld flashlight can be found at cost of US$ 10-15. The protocol involves the 3D pen drawing of the desirable layout on paper using an acrylic resin followed by a curing stage through a handheld flashlight. The barriers created with 3D pen revealed good chemical resistance when exposed to acid and alkaline solutions, surfactants and organic solvents, except ethanol. The proposed approach enabled the creation of zones with 2 mm diameter and channels with 3 mm wide. The analytical feasibility of the devices created with 3D pen was investigated through colorimetric measurements of clinically and environmentally relevant analytes using a free application for image capture and analysis. Considering the instrumental simplicity and the satisfactory analytical performance, we believe the reported approach exhibits potentiality to be implemented in laboratories or research centers with limited resources, opening possibilities to create the desirable devices for the point-of-need applications using only a pen and a flashlight.

本文首次描述了使用3D笔制造基于纸张的分析设备。3D笔通常被商品化为“儿童玩具”，一个包含四个单元和一个手持手电筒的套件的价格为10-15美元。该协议涉及使用丙烯酸树脂在纸上进行所需布局的3D笔画，然后通过手持手电筒进行固化。当暴露于酸和碱溶液，表面活性剂和有机溶剂（乙醇除外）时，用3D笔创建的屏障显示出良好的耐化学性。所提出的方法能够创建直径为2毫米的区域和宽度为3毫米的通道。通过使用免费的图像捕获和分析应用程序对临床和环境相关分析物进行比色测量，研究了用3D笔创建的设备的分析可行性。考虑到仪器的简便性和令人满意的分析性能，我们认为所报告的方法具有在资源有限的实验室或研究中心中实施的潜力，打开了仅使用笔和一支笔即可为所需应用创建理想设备的可能性。手电筒。