Bonding of glass microfluidic chips at room temperatures

A simple, room-temperature bonding process was developed for the fabrication of glass microfluidic chips. High-quality bonding with high yields (>95%) was achieved without the requirement of clean room facilities, programmed high-temperature furnaces, pressurized water sources, adhesives, or pressurizing weights. The plates to be bonded were sequentially prewashed with acetone, detergent, high-flow-rate (10-20 m/s) tap water, and absolute ethyl alcohol and were soaked in concentrated sulfuric acid for 8-12 h. The plates were again washed in high-flow-rate tap water for 5 min and, finally, with demineralized water. The plates were bonded by bringing the cleaned surfaces into close contact under a continuous flow of demineralized water and air-dried at room temperature for more than 3 h. This bonding process features simple operation, good smoothness of the plate surface, and high bonding yield. The procedures can be readily applied in any routine laboratory. The bonding strength of glass chips thus produced, measured using a shear force testing procedure, was higher than 6 kg/cm(2). The mechanism for the strong bonding strength is presumably related to the formation of a hydrolyzed layer on the plate surfaces after soaking the substrates in acid or water for extended periods. Microfluidic chips bonded by the above procedure were tested in the CE separation of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled amino acids.