CRP Binding Kinetics Enhancement Using Local Narrowing into a Bent Channel: Finite Element Analysis

Binding kinetics enhancement of a microfluidic biosensor into a micro-channel through the application of a supplementary mechanism has received tremendous attention because of the obtained significant enhancement factor. However, biosensor’s performance enhancement using only simple channel engineering is still rarely realized. Herein, we present a novel design of a complex reactive protein (CRP) biosensor into a U-shaped channel with a sensitive membrane located in the middle of the bent zone. Various critical factors affecting the equilibrium binding time are numerically investigated. The turn geometry is then optimized when the arc length along the inner and outer radii is almost the same, which leads to locally minimizing the channel height overhead the reaction surface and improves the analyte transport towards the sensing area. The numerical studies reveal that applying a local narrowing above the reaction surface can notably enhance the trapping and the surface formation of complex antibody-antigen, thus upgrading the biosensor performance. This work puts a significant advance towards microfluidic channel engineering and the exploration of micro-flow injection experimental studies.