Analytical Sciences

Microfluidic Device for Coulometric Detection of Organophosphate Pesticides

Jin WANG,* Takaaki SATAKE,* and Hiroaki SUZUKI**

*Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
**Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573, Japan

A microdevice for coulometric detection of organophosphate pesticides (OPs) was fabricated based on the measurement of the inhibition of an enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), by OPs. Thiocholine (TCh) produced in the enzymatic reaction of AChE with acetylthiocholine (ATCh) as a substrate was oxidized on a microelectrode array formed in a main flow channel. Volumes of plugs of necessary solutions were measured using a structure consisting of a row of rhombuses formed in an auxiliary flow channel. The plugs were merged and solution components were mixed at a T-junction formed with the main and auxiliary flow channels. A linear relationship was confirmed between the generated charge and the logarithm of the OP (malathion) concentration in a concentration range between 10⁻⁶ and 10⁻³ M with a correlation coefficient of 0.951. The lower limit of detection was 412 nM.

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