PNIPAAm-functionalized flexible microchip for rapid detection of surface microbial contaminants

IF 5.3 2区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, ANALYTICAL

Microchimica Acta Pub Date : 2025-09-12 DOI:10.1007/s00604-025-07539-6

Xi Su, Chuang Ge, Songtao Xiang, Xiaoqin Wu, Yipei Wang, Li Chen, Yi Xu

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Abstract

The detection of surface microbial contaminants faces several critical challenges, including disconnection between sampling and detection steps and time-consuming. To overcome these limitations, we developed an innovative integrated microfluidic system that combines bacterial sampling, transfer, concentration, and detection within a single chip platform. The microchip architecture consists of a thermos-responsive flexible sheet incorporating poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) gel micropillar arrays for efficient bacterial capture and thermal-triggered release, and a PDMS cover layer with an optimized canopy-shaped microchannel design for sequential bacterial transport, fluorescent labeling, and in situ concentration/fluorescence detection. To verify the system’s functionality, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was employed as a model organism for testing the microchip detection platform. Under optimized conditions, the sampling and the elution efficiency of S. aureus on stainless steel sheet were up to 75.6% and 88.4%, respectively. The detection limit of S. aureus was 5.15 × 10³ CFU/cm², and the entire process was completed in < 45 min. This integrated microfluidic system performs continuous surface microbial sampling and detection, reducing processing time by 32-fold compared to conventional swab-based methods. The platform offers a rapid, integrated, and highly efficient solution for bacterial detection for surface microbial contaminants, with promising applications in food safety, medical hygiene, and environmental monitoring.

Graphical Abstract

Abstract Image

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用于快速检测表面微生物污染物的pnipaam功能化柔性微芯片

表面微生物污染物的检测面临着几个关键的挑战，包括采样和检测步骤之间的脱节以及耗时。为了克服这些限制，我们开发了一种创新的集成微流体系统，将细菌采样、转移、浓度和检测结合在一个芯片平台上。该微芯片结构包括一个热响应柔性片，包含聚（n -异丙基丙烯酰胺）（PNIPAAm）凝胶微柱阵列，用于有效的细菌捕获和热触发释放，以及一个PDMS覆盖层，具有优化的冠状微通道设计，用于顺序细菌运输，荧光标记和原位浓度/荧光检测。为了验证系统的功能，以金黄色葡萄球菌（S. aureus）为模型生物对微芯片检测平台进行测试。在优化条件下，金黄色葡萄球菌在不锈钢片上的取样和洗脱效率分别为75.6%和88.4%。金黄色葡萄球菌检出限为5.15 × 103 CFU/cm2，整个过程在45 min内完成。这种集成的微流体系统可以进行连续的表面微生物采样和检测，与传统的拭子方法相比，处理时间缩短了32倍。该平台为表面微生物污染物的细菌检测提供了快速、集成、高效的解决方案，在食品安全、医疗卫生和环境监测方面具有广阔的应用前景。图形抽象

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来源期刊

Microchimica Acta 化学-分析化学

CiteScore

9.80

自引率

5.30%

发文量

410

审稿时长

2.7 months

期刊介绍： As a peer-reviewed journal for analytical sciences and technologies on the micro- and nanoscale, Microchimica Acta has established itself as a premier forum for truly novel approaches in chemical and biochemical analysis. Coverage includes methods and devices that provide expedient solutions to the most contemporary demands in this area. Examples are point-of-care technologies, wearable (bio)sensors, in-vivo-monitoring, micro/nanomotors and materials based on synthetic biology as well as biomedical imaging and targeting.