Adsorption-resistant acrylic copolymer for prototyping of microfluidic devices for proteins and peptides

A poly(ethylene glycol)-functionalized acrylic copolymer was developed for fabrication of microfluidic devices that are resistant to protein and peptide adsorption. Planar microcapillary electrophoresis (microCE) devices were fabricated from this copolymer with the typical cross pattern to facilitate sample introduction. In contrast to most methods used to fabricate polymeric microchips, the photopolymerization-based method used with the copolymer reported in this work was of the soft lithography type, and both patterning and bonding could be completed within 10 min. In a finished microdevice, the cover plate and patterned substrate were bonded together through strong covalent bonds. Additionally, because of the resistance of the copolymer to adsorption, fabricated microfluidic devices could be used without surface modification to separate proteins and peptides. Separations of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled protein and peptide samples were accomplished using these new polymeric microCE microchips. Separation efficiencies as high as 4.7 x 10(4) plates were obtained in less than 40 s with a 3.5-cm separation channel, yielding peptide and protein peaks that were symmetrical.