A nitrocellulose/cotton fiber hybrid composite membrane for paper-based biosensor

Ruihua Tang^{1

2}, Mingyue Xie^{1

2}, Xueyan Yan^{1

2}, Liwei Qian^{1

2}, John P Giesy^{3

4

5

6}, Yuwei Xie⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710021 People's Republic of China.
² National Demonstration Center for Experimental Light Chemistry Engineering Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710021 People's Republic of China.
³ Toxicology Center, University of Saskatchewan, 44 Campus Dr, Saskatoon, S7N 5B3 Saskatchewan Canada.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4 Canada.
⁵ Department of Integrative Biology and Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
⁶ Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97266, Waco, TX 76798-7266 USA.
⁷ Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Nanjing, 210042 China.

PMID: 37360890
PMCID: PMC10238769
DOI: 10.1007/s10570-023-05288-4

A nitrocellulose/cotton fiber hybrid composite membrane for paper-based biosensor

Ruihua Tang et al. Cellulose (Lond). 2023.

. 2023 Jun 3:1-13.

doi: 10.1007/s10570-023-05288-4. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ruihua Tang^{1

2}, Mingyue Xie^{1

2}, Xueyan Yan^{1

2}, Liwei Qian^{1

2}, John P Giesy^{3

4

5

6}, Yuwei Xie⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710021 People's Republic of China.
² National Demonstration Center for Experimental Light Chemistry Engineering Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, 710021 People's Republic of China.
³ Toxicology Center, University of Saskatchewan, 44 Campus Dr, Saskatoon, S7N 5B3 Saskatchewan Canada.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4 Canada.
⁵ Department of Integrative Biology and Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
⁶ Department of Environmental Science, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97266, Waco, TX 76798-7266 USA.
⁷ Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Nanjing, 210042 China.

PMID: 37360890
PMCID: PMC10238769
DOI: 10.1007/s10570-023-05288-4

Abstract

Nitrocellulose (NC) membrane was fabricated and tested for its potential use in various paper-based biosensors for use in point-of-care testing. However, contemporary technologies are complex, expensive, non-scalable, limited by conditions, and beset with potentially adverse effects on the environment. Herein, we proposed a simple, cost-effective, scalable technology to prepare nitrocellulose/cotton fiber (NC/CF) composite membranes. The NC/CF composite membranes with a diameter of 20 cm were fabricated in 15 min using papermaking technology, which contributes to scalability in the large-scale production of these composites. Compared with existing commercial NC membranes, the NC/CF composite membrane is characterized by small pore size (3.59 ± 0.19 μm), low flow rate (156 ± 55 s/40 mm), high dry strength (up to 4.04 MPa), and wet strength (up to 0.13 MPa), adjustable hydrophilic-hydrophobic (contact angles ranged from 29 ± 4.6 to 82.8 ± 2.4°), the good adsorption capacity of protein (up to 91.92 ± 0.07 μg). After lateral flow assays (LFAs) detection, the limit of detection is 1 nM, which is similar to commercial NC membrane (Sartorius CN 140). We envision the NC/CF composite membrane as a promising material for paper-based biosensors of point-of-care testing applications.

Keywords: Cotton fiber; Lateral flow assays; Nitrocellulose; Papermaking technology; Point-of-care testing.

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestAll authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Schematic of the preparation process of NC/CF composite membrane by papermaking technology and its application for HIV LFAs

**Fig. 2**
The physical properties of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes. A The morphology of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes, including front section a and cross section b. B The pore size, porosity of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes. C The flow rate of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes

**Fig. 3**
The physical properties of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes. A The dry tensile strength of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes. B The wet tensile strength of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes. C The shape changes of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes before and after immersion in water. D The contact angles of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes

**Fig. 4**
The chemical properties of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes. The result of EDS images A, FT-IR spectrum B and XRD patterns C

**Fig. 5**
The adsorption capacity of protein of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes. A The standard curve of BSA solution. B The adsorption capacity of protein of these pure CF membranes and NC/CF composite membranes

**Fig. 6**
HIV detection. A Schematic of LFAs strip. B The detection limit of 10% NC/CF composite membranes was 1 nM. C The detection limit of CNC membrane was 1 nM. D The optical density of test line on 10% NC/CF composite membranes and CNC membranes

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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A nitrocellulose/cotton fiber hybrid composite membrane for paper-based biosensor

Affiliations

A nitrocellulose/cotton fiber hybrid composite membrane for paper-based biosensor

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

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