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Patterning, integration and characterisation of polymer optical oxygen sensors for microfluidic devices
Volker Nock1, Richard J Blaikie, Tim David
1MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand. volker.nock@elec.canterbury.ac.nz
Lab on a Chip
|July 25, 2008
Summary
Researchers developed a new method for creating optical oxygen sensors using luminescent dyes integrated into microfluidic devices. This technique enables precise oxygen detection in cell-culture and lab-on-a-chip applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Optical oxygen sensors offer non-invasive monitoring capabilities.
- Integrating sensors into microfluidic devices is crucial for advanced biological and chemical analysis.
- Existing fabrication methods can be complex and may affect sensor performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel, repeatable fabrication process for integrating luminescent dye-based optical oxygen sensors into microfluidic devices.
- To characterize the performance of these sensors for gaseous and dissolved oxygen detection.
- To demonstrate the capability for spatially resolved oxygen measurements within microfluidic channels.
Main Methods:
- Layer-by-layer fabrication using spin-coating of platinum(II) octaethylporphyrin ketone dye in polystyrene.
- Soft lithography and reactive ion etching for patterning sensors with feature sizes down to 25 micrometers.
- Plasma bonding for integrating sensor patterns into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic devices.
Main Results:
- Successful integration of optical oxygen sensors into microfluidic devices without performance degradation.
- Sensor signal intensity increased with reduced film thickness (0.6 microm vs 1.3 microm).
- Linear Stern-Volmer behavior for dissolved oxygen calibration, consistent across various flow rates (0.5-2 mL min(-1)).
- Demonstrated laterally resolved oxygen detection within a microfluidic channel.
Conclusions:
- The described fabrication process is a novel, user-friendly method for reproducible integration of optical oxygen sensors.
- This technique is suitable for incorporation into cell-culture and lab-on-a-chip systems.
- The developed sensors provide reliable and spatially resolved oxygen monitoring capabilities.
