A miniature sensor integrating multiple detection technologies for evaluating water pollution

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There exists an urgent and great need for a portable system to monitor water quality in both developed and developing countries. Currently, there is no commercial test available to satisfy this demand, as only accredited laboratories can perform such evaluations. Conventional physicochemical techniques like chromatography must be performed by qualified technicians, and require large, bulky and expensive equipment. Moreover, miniaturisation of analytical instrumentation is one of dominant trends within the chemical and biological sciences. Miniaturization of diagnostic devices not only affords portability and significant cost reductions but also performance gains in terms of speed, analytical efficiency, automation and reproducibility. Through miniaturization, microfluidic technologies may allow successful integration of all the relevant steps on a single device.