Fabrication of Sealed µ-Channels Through a Fast and Reliable Photopolymerization Process

✍ Scribed by Raffaella Suriano; Marinella Levi; Elisa Emilitri; Chiara Momo; Stefano Turri

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 856 KB
• Volume: 296
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1438-7492
• DOI: 10.1002/mame.201000412

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Sealed microchannels and simple microfluidic networks with good efficiency and controlled quality of the structures were developed from a photocurable and PCR‐compatible material based on a PEG–methacrylate oligomers mixture. The influence of UV exposure time and of conversion degree on microchannel geometry were studied to obtain structures with controlled depth, vertical sidewalls, and good reproducibility. The roughness inside channels was as low as 50–100 nm, less than that typical of alternative LOC prototyping techniques such as micromilling. Efficient channel sealing was also achieved without using a different sealing material. Surface smoothness and hydrophilicity (static contact angle below 60°) allow spontaneous water flow inside the channels by capillarity without need of surface treatments. magnified image