Candyfluidics: The Art of Fabricating Micro- and Nano-fluidic Geometries using Surface-deposited Sugar Scaffolds

Candyfluidics: The Art of Fabricating Micro- and Nano-fluidic Geometries using Surface-deposited Sugar Scaffolds | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Candyfluidics: The Art of Fabricating Micro- and Nano-fluidic Geometries using Surface-deposited Sugar Scaffolds Tochukwu Dubem Anyaduba, Jesus Rodriguez-Manzano This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7155716/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The adoption of miniaturization technologies, such as micro and nanofluidic systems, as a strategy for democratized healthcare in developing countries was proposed decades ago. However, regions in most need of cost-effective global health technological solutions such as sub-Saharan Africa, contribute less than 1\% of the global research output in the microfluidics field. This dearth of research output from the region may be attributed to economic and technical barriers to rapid prototyping with state-of-the-art tools such as 3D printing and micromilling. As a more accessible, low-cost, and low-resource alternative, we introduce candyfluidics, an innovative method for fabricating micro- and nano-fluidic structures using sugar and screen-printing, which are respectively abundant materials and technology in the region. Exemplified through the creation of flow-focusing chips, we provide detailed procedure for creating microfluidic architectures from surface-deposited candy mixture. The resulting flow-focusing chips were validated by generating water-in-oil droplets with volumes ranging from 0.2 to 1.22 nL under pressure-driven flows. Furthermore, the chips were used to demonstrate digital droplet loop-mediated isothermal amplification for the detection of dengue virus type 1 nucleic acids at femtomolar concentration ($\sim 85$ copies/ $\mu$L). The Candyfluidics fabrication process takes less than 30 minutes and enables the parallel production of multiple chips, offering a rapid and scalable approach to manufacturing microfluidic devices for point-of-need applications. candyfluidics candy fluidics microfluidics rapid prototyping single molecule detection droplet digital microfluidics solvent moulding frugal diagnostics sub-Saharan Africa low and middle-income countries screen printing droplet digital loop-mediated isothermal amplification Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7155716","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":487369096,"identity":"78535270-a66c-4ef3-98af-c618e0525ed6","order_by":0,"name":"Tochukwu Dubem 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However, regions in most need of cost-effective global health technological \u0026nbsp;solutions such as sub-Saharan Africa, contribute less than 1\\% of the global research output in the microfluidics field. This dearth of research output from the region may be attributed to economic and technical barriers to rapid prototyping with state-of-the-art tools such as 3D printing and micromilling. As a more accessible, low-cost, and low-resource alternative, we introduce candyfluidics, an innovative method for fabricating micro- and nano-fluidic structures using sugar and screen-printing, which are respectively abundant materials and technology in the region. Exemplified through the creation of flow-focusing chips, we provide detailed procedure for creating microfluidic architectures from surface-deposited candy mixture. The resulting flow-focusing chips were validated by generating water-in-oil droplets with volumes ranging from 0.2 to 1.22 nL under pressure-driven flows. Furthermore, the chips were used to demonstrate digital droplet loop-mediated isothermal amplification for the detection of dengue virus type 1 nucleic acids at femtomolar concentration ($\\sim 85$ copies/ $\\mu$L). 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