Pop-up paper electrochemical device for label-free hepatitis B virus DNA detection

•An electrochemical paper-based analytical device with pop-up structure is developed for hepatitis B virus DNA detection.•A Pop-up architecture enables a multi-step operation within a single device, ease of sample introduction, avoiding contamination and minimizing the exposure of biofluids.•A pyrrolidinyl peptide nucleic acid offers a higher binding affinity and specificity toward a complementary DNA over conventional DNA or PNA probe.•A low detection limit of 1 pM is allowed with a label-free system.•The feasibility of the proposed sensor with plasmid construct is achieved.