Issue 5, 2006

Design and fabrication of a multilayered polymer microfluidic chip with nanofluidic interconnects via adhesive contact printing

Abstract

The design and fabrication of a multilayered polymer micro-nanofluidic chip is described that consists of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) layers that contain microfluidic channels separated in the vertical direction by polycarbonate (PC) membranes that incorporate an array of nanometre diameter cylindrical pores. The materials are optically transparent to allow inspection of the fluids within the channels in the near UV and visible spectrum. The design architecture enables nanofluidic interconnections to be placed in the vertical direction between microfluidic channels. Such an architecture allows microchannel separations within the chip, as well as allowing unique operations that utilize nanocapillary interconnects: the separation of analytes based on molecular size, channel isolation, enhanced mixing, and sample concentration. Device fabrication is made possible by a transfer process of labile membranes and the development of a contact printing method for a thermally curable epoxy based adhesive. This adhesive is shown to have bond strengths that prevent leakage and delamination and channel rupture tests exceed 6 atm (0.6 MPa) under applied pressure. Channels 100 µm in width and 20 µm in depth are contact printed without the adhesive entering the microchannel. The chip is characterized in terms of resistivity measurements along the microfluidic channels, electroosmotic flow (EOF) measurements at different pH values and laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) detection of green-fluorescent protein (GFP) plugs injected across the nanocapillary membrane and into a microfluidic channel. The results indicate that the mixed polymer micro–nanofluidic multilayer chip has electrical characteristics needed for use in microanalytical systems.

Graphical abstract: Design and fabrication of a multilayered polymer microfluidic chip with nanofluidic interconnects via adhesive contact printing

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Oct 2005
Accepted
23 Dec 2005
First published
17 Mar 2006

Lab Chip, 2006,6, 667-674

Design and fabrication of a multilayered polymer microfluidic chip with nanofluidic interconnects via adhesive contact printing

B. R. Flachsbart, K. Wong, J. M. Iannacone, E. N. Abante, R. L. Vlach, P. A. Rauchfuss, P. W. Bohn, J. V. Sweedler and M. A. Shannon, Lab Chip, 2006, 6, 667 DOI: 10.1039/B514300D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements