Exploration of 3D printingtechnologies for the development ofan affordable fluorescence detector forcapillary separations

Capillary separation techniques offer fast separation for solutions of low detection volumeson the order of nL within seconds to minutes. However, detection efficiency is generallyreliant on high cost commercialized instrumentation. 3D printing is a relatively new andexciting field that has opened in the world of spectroscopic methods. The ability to quicklyfabricate devices have dramatically closed the gap between design and prototyping phasesof a project.In chapter 2, 3D printing technology will be used to design, develop, and optimize afluorescence detector that can be used as an alternative to commercial instruments. Thisdesign will follow exploration of integrated optics to further improve limits of detection(LOD). The detector offers a variety of applications including biological studies. Chapter 3will describe the detector’s use for fluorescence polarization measurements along with futuredirections to improve the design.

Portions of this document were previously published in the Analytical Chemistry journal.