LTCC wet chemical analysis meso-systems

In this work, the use of a novel technique to construct complex three-dimensional microfluidic systems for wet chemical analysis is described. The interest to find new materials that can replace silicon in the field of MEMS/MST has increased recently. LTCC (Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics), also known as Green Ceramic Tape Technology, can be an excellent alternative due to their easiest manipulation, simple fabrication techniques, inexpensive and environmentally benign, which make them more versatile than silicon for microfluidic applications. Some process modifications are necessary to make LTCC suitable to meso-system implementation. The present paper reports the construction and evaluation of an LTCC device for wet chemical analysis using the spectrophotometry detection, suitable for mesosysteni implementation. To test the efficiency of the proposed approach we constructed a device for the spectrophotometry determination of absorbing compounds. As a demonstrator, nitrite ion was determined by its reaction with sulphanilamide to form the diazonium salt which was coupled with N- (1-naphthyl) ethylene diamine to yield an azo dye whose absorbance was measured at 540nm[1], by means of an LTCC meso-system.