Hybrid technology (3D additive printing — silicon — glass) multiline evaporative concentrator for water quality monitoring system

Abstract

This paper reports the design, fabrication procedure and functional tests of a continuous-flow hybrid technology 16-line evaporative concentrator. The unique and complete integration of the microscale silicon-glass evaporator with a mesoscale 3D printed polymer manifold platform is successfully demonstrated. The hardware platform of concentrator control unit is described. The continuous-flow concentrator chips were tested with respect to their evaporation capability. A very high water evaporation rates were achieved in evaporative concentrator. An evaporation rate of 10 μL/min, achieved in mild conditions, compatible with biological sample treatment (T≤37°C), allowed for 4-fold sample enrichment. High-throughput flow ability and 33-fold concentration factor achieved in temperature of 50°C facilitates the application of prototype for chemical sample enrichment.