Microfabrication of polydimethylsiloxane electrospray ionization emitters

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Microfluidics

Background:

• Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is a powerful analytical technique.
• Microfluidic devices offer miniaturized platforms for complex analyses.
• Integrating emitters directly into microfluidic devices presents fabrication challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement microfabricated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) emitters for ESI-MS.
• To explore soft lithography techniques for emitter fabrication.
• To facilitate the integration of ESI-MS with microfluidic systems.

Main Methods:

• Utilized soft lithography processes for microfabrication.
• Fabricated PDMS emitters as integral tips along the edge of PDMS devices.
• Employed three distinct microfabrication methods.

Main Results:

• Successfully implemented microfabricated PDMS emitters.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of integrating emitters directly into microfluidic devices.
• Showcased the utility of soft lithography for this purpose.

Conclusions:

• Microfabrication of PDMS emitters is achievable using soft lithography.
• These integrated emitters simplify the development of microfluidic ESI-MS systems.
• This advancement enables more complex and integrated microfluidic analytical platforms.