A portable microfluidic-based biophotonic sensor for extracellular H ₂O₂ measurements

In this work a portable analytical biosensor for real-time extracellular monitoring of released hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂ ) is presented. The biosensor is based on the optical detection of the cytochrome c (cyt c) oxidation state. The setup consists of an integrated microscope combined with a compact spectrometer. The light being absorbed by cyt c is enhanced via multiscattering produced by random aggregates of polystyrene beads in a cross-linked cyt c matrix. Using ink-jet printing technique, the sensing elements, namely cyt c loaded polystyrene aggregates, are fabricated with high reliability in terms of repeatability of size and sensitivity. Additionally, the sensing elements are enclosed in a microfluidic channel assuring a fast and efficient analytes delivery. As an example, the effect of trace concentrations of functionalized cadmium selenide/zinc sulfide (CdSe/ZnS) core shell quantum dots on the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is investigated, showing extracellular H₂O₂ release with different production rates over a period of 1 hour. In conclusion, the presented portable biosensor enables the highly sensitive and non-invasive real-time monitoring of the cell metabolism of C. reinhardtii.