Influence of the Flow Rate in an Automated Microfluidic Electronic Tongue Tested for Sucralose Differentiation
Incorporating electronic tongues into microfluidic devices brings benefits as dealing with small amounts of sample/discharge. Nonetheless, such measurements may be time-consuming in some applications once they require several operational steps. Here, we designed four collinear electrodes on a single...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/21/6194 |
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| author | Maria L. Braunger Igor Fier Flávio M. Shimizu Anerise de Barros Varlei Rodrigues Antonio Riul |
| author_facet | Maria L. Braunger Igor Fier Flávio M. Shimizu Anerise de Barros Varlei Rodrigues Antonio Riul |
| author_sort | Maria L. Braunger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Incorporating electronic tongues into microfluidic devices brings benefits as dealing with small amounts of sample/discharge. Nonetheless, such measurements may be time-consuming in some applications once they require several operational steps. Here, we designed four collinear electrodes on a single printed circuit board, further comprised inside a straight microchannel, culminating in a robust e-tongue device for faster data acquisition. An analog multiplexing circuit automated the signal’s routing from each of the four sensing units to an impedance analyzer. Both instruments and a syringe pump are controlled by dedicated software. The automated e-tongue was tested with four Brazilian brands of liquid sucralose-based sweeteners under 20 different flow rates, aiming to systematically evaluate the influence of the flow rate in the discrimination among sweet tastes sold as the same food product. All four brands were successfully distinguished using principal component analysis of the raw data, and despite the nearly identical sucralose-based taste in all samples, all brands’ significant distinction is attributed to small differences in the ingredients and manufacturing processes to deliver the final food product. The increasing flow rate improves the analyte’s discrimination, as the silhouette coefficient reaches a plateau at ~3 mL/h. We used an equivalent circuit model to evaluate the raw data, finding a decrease in the double-layer capacitance proportional to improvements in the samples’ discrimination. In other words, the flow rate increase mitigates the formation of the double-layer, resulting in faster stabilization and better repeatability in the sensor response. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:12:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2e8b241044b744fbb56870dfb1ba7d30 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:12:44Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-2e8b241044b744fbb56870dfb1ba7d302023-11-20T19:13:12ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202020-10-012021619410.3390/s20216194Influence of the Flow Rate in an Automated Microfluidic Electronic Tongue Tested for Sucralose DifferentiationMaria L. Braunger0Igor Fier1Flávio M. Shimizu2Anerise de Barros3Varlei Rodrigues4Antonio Riul5Department of Applied Physics, “Gleb Wataghin” Institute of Physics (IFGW), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas SP 13083-859, BrazilQuantum Design Latin America, Campinas SP 13080-655, BrazilDepartment of Applied Physics, “Gleb Wataghin” Institute of Physics (IFGW), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas SP 13083-859, BrazilLaboratory of Functional Materials, Institute of Chemistry (IQ), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas SP 13083-970, BrazilDepartment of Applied Physics, “Gleb Wataghin” Institute of Physics (IFGW), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas SP 13083-859, BrazilDepartment of Applied Physics, “Gleb Wataghin” Institute of Physics (IFGW), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas SP 13083-859, BrazilIncorporating electronic tongues into microfluidic devices brings benefits as dealing with small amounts of sample/discharge. Nonetheless, such measurements may be time-consuming in some applications once they require several operational steps. Here, we designed four collinear electrodes on a single printed circuit board, further comprised inside a straight microchannel, culminating in a robust e-tongue device for faster data acquisition. An analog multiplexing circuit automated the signal’s routing from each of the four sensing units to an impedance analyzer. Both instruments and a syringe pump are controlled by dedicated software. The automated e-tongue was tested with four Brazilian brands of liquid sucralose-based sweeteners under 20 different flow rates, aiming to systematically evaluate the influence of the flow rate in the discrimination among sweet tastes sold as the same food product. All four brands were successfully distinguished using principal component analysis of the raw data, and despite the nearly identical sucralose-based taste in all samples, all brands’ significant distinction is attributed to small differences in the ingredients and manufacturing processes to deliver the final food product. The increasing flow rate improves the analyte’s discrimination, as the silhouette coefficient reaches a plateau at ~3 mL/h. We used an equivalent circuit model to evaluate the raw data, finding a decrease in the double-layer capacitance proportional to improvements in the samples’ discrimination. In other words, the flow rate increase mitigates the formation of the double-layer, resulting in faster stabilization and better repeatability in the sensor response.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/21/6194microfluidic electronic tongueimpedance spectroscopysucraloseflow rate |
| spellingShingle | Maria L. Braunger Igor Fier Flávio M. Shimizu Anerise de Barros Varlei Rodrigues Antonio Riul Influence of the Flow Rate in an Automated Microfluidic Electronic Tongue Tested for Sucralose Differentiation Sensors microfluidic electronic tongue impedance spectroscopy sucralose flow rate |
| title | Influence of the Flow Rate in an Automated Microfluidic Electronic Tongue Tested for Sucralose Differentiation |
| title_full | Influence of the Flow Rate in an Automated Microfluidic Electronic Tongue Tested for Sucralose Differentiation |
| title_fullStr | Influence of the Flow Rate in an Automated Microfluidic Electronic Tongue Tested for Sucralose Differentiation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of the Flow Rate in an Automated Microfluidic Electronic Tongue Tested for Sucralose Differentiation |
| title_short | Influence of the Flow Rate in an Automated Microfluidic Electronic Tongue Tested for Sucralose Differentiation |
| title_sort | influence of the flow rate in an automated microfluidic electronic tongue tested for sucralose differentiation |
| topic | microfluidic electronic tongue impedance spectroscopy sucralose flow rate |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/21/6194 |
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