The emerging role of 3D printing in the fabrication of detection systems

3D printing is fast evolving as an additive manufacturing technique that has been adopted in (bio)analytical science because of the ample variety of materials and technologies currently available for highly affordable prototyping. This review focuses on the unique characteristics of 3D printing for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:TrAC, Trends in analytical chemistry (Regular ed.) Trends in analytical chemistry (Regular ed.), 2021-03, Vol.136, p.116177, Article 116177
Main Authors: Carrasco-Correa, Enrique Javier, Simó-Alfonso, Ernesto Francisco, Herrero-Martínez, José Manuel, Miró, Manuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3D-printing
Colorimetric detection
Detection systems
Electrochemical detection
Fused deposition modelling
Optical detection
Photopolymer inkjet printing
Stereolithography
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Summary:3D printing is fast evolving as an additive manufacturing technique that has been adopted in (bio)analytical science because of the ample variety of materials and technologies currently available for highly affordable prototyping. This review focuses on the unique characteristics of 3D printing for manufacturing of optical and electrochemical detection systems, and sampling interfaces for analytical purposes using fused deposition modelling, vat polymerization (stereolithography and digital light processing) and photopolymer inkjet printing. The majority of works surveyed within the time span of mid-2018 to mid-2020 encompassed the fabrication of several components of the detection systems, yet recent reports on totally printed electrochemical detectors are paving the way of 3D printing toward self-dedicated fully printed detectors. From the application viewpoint, the merits and weaknesses of the new sensing platforms as compared with commercially available detectors will be critically analyzed to uncover the actual advantages of using 3D printed materials and devices. Finally, the current state-of-the-art and future perspectives of this emerging technology for fabrication of unique detection systems are highlighted. [Display omitted] •Role of 3D printing in designing optical and electrochemical detection systems.•Critical evaluation of articles published since 2018.•FDM, SLA and DLP are by far the most commonly employed techniques.•Most of the works focused on printing spare parts and detection components.•Trends are directed towards one-step printing of the overall detection system using multimaterial printers.
ISSN:0165-9936
1879-3142
DOI:10.1016/j.trac.2020.116177