Single-step fabrication of an integrated 3D-printed device for electrochemical sensing applications

Abstract

This work reports the fabrication of a functional and fully integrated electrochemical device manufactured via a single-step 3D printing approach and its proof-of-concept applicability to electrochemical sensing. The device is fabricated entirely by 3D printing using a 3D printer equipped with two heads. It features three conductive polymer electrodes (working, counter, pseudo-reference) printed from a carbon-loaded polylactic acid (PLA) conductive filament and an electrode holder printed from a PLA non-conductive filament. 3D-printing enables the fabrication of electrochemical devices with significant advantages over other manufacturing approaches in terms of equipment size, capital and materials cost, flexibility in the design, construction and choice of materials, prototyping and manufacturing speed, between-device uniformity and design transferability. It is demonstrated that the device can be used for a variety of electrochemical sensing applications in a wide potential range, thus serving as a versatile electrochemical sensing platform. Keywords: 3D-printing, Electrochemical sensor, Integrated device