Study on surface properties of PDMS microfluidic chips treated with albumin

Electrokinetic properties and morphology of PDMS microfluidic chips intended for bioassays are studied. The chips are fabricated by a casting method followed by polymerization bonding. Microchannels are coated with 1% solution of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in Tris buffer. Albumin passively adsorbs on the PDMS surface. Electrokinetic characteristics (electro-osmotic velocity, electro-osmotic mobility, and zeta potential) of the coated PDMS channels are experimentally determined as functions of the electric field strength and the characteristic electrolyte concentration. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis of the surface reveals a "peak and ridge" structure of the protein layer and an imperfect substrate coating. On the basis of the AFM observation, several topologies of the BSA-PDMS surface are proposed. A nonslip mathematical model of the electro-osmotic flow is then numerically analyzed. It is found that the electrokinetic characteristics computed for a channel with the homogeneous distribution of a fixed electric charge do not fit the experimental data. Heterogeneous distribution of the fixed electric charge and the surface roughness is thus taken into account. When a flat PDMS surface with electric charge heterogeneities is considered, the numerical results are in very good agreement with our experimental data. An optimization analysis finally allowed the determination of the surface concentration of the electric charge and the degree of the PDMS surface coating. The obtained findings can be important for correct prediction and possibly for robust control of behavior of electrically driven PDMS microfluidic chips. The proposed method of the electro-osmotic flow analysis at surfaces with a heterogeneous distribution of the surface electric charge can also be exploited in the interpretation of experimental studies dealing with protein-solid phase interactions or substrate coatings.