Ultrasensitive detection of Cadmium ions using a microcantilever-based piezoresistive sensor for groundwater

In this paper, we proposed the selective and ultrasensitive detection of Cadmium ions using a Cysteamine functionalized microcantilever-based sensor with cross-linked  DL-glyceraldehyde. The detection time for various laboratory-based techniques is generally 12-24 hours. The experiments performed to create the SAMs of Cysteamine (Cys) cross-linked with DL-glyceraldehyde on the Microcantilever surface to selectivity capture the targeted Cd 2+ Ions. The proposed portable microfluidic platform able to achieve the detection in 20-23 minutes and having a Limit of Detection (LOD) of 0.56 ng (2.78 pM), which perfectly describes its excellent performance over other reported techniques. Many researchers used Nanoparticles (NPs)-Based sensors for Heavy metal ions detection, but day by day, increasing usage and commercialization of Nanoparticles are rapidly expanding their deleterious effect on human health and the environment. The proposed technique uses the blend of thin-film and microcantilever (MEMS)-technology to overdrive the disadvantages of the Nanoparticles-approaches for selective Cd 2+ ions detection and having LOD less than WHO limit of 3 µg/L. The fabricated sensor can achieve the limits efficiently well below the standards set by the WHO and helpful for the early detection of HMIs polluted source.