Fully integrated sampler and dilutor in an electrochemical paper-based device for glucose sensing

An electroanalytical platform capable to take and dilute the sample has been designed in order to fully integrate the different steps of the analytical process in only one device. The concept is based on the addition of glass-fiber pads for sampling and diluting to an electrochemical cell combining a paper-based working electrode with low-cost connector headers as counter and reference electrodes. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of this all-in-one platform for biosensing applications, an enzymatic sensor for glucose determination (requiring a potential as low as −0.1 V vs. gold-plated wire by using ferrocyanide as mediator) was developed. Real food samples, such as cola beverages and orange juice, have been analyzed with the bioelectroanalytical lab-on-paper platform. As a proof-of-concept, and trying to go further in the integration of steps, sucrose was successfully detected by depositing invertase in the sampling strip. This enzyme hydrolyzes sucrose into fructose and glucose, which was determined using the enzymatic biosensor. This approach opens the pathway for the development of devices applying the lab-on-paper concept, saving costs and time, and making possible to perform decentralized analysis with high accuracy. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00604-021-04946-3.