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Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions
Published on: April 19, 2018
Silicate glass coated microchannels through a phase conversion process for glass-like electrokinetic performance.
1National Creative Research Center of Applied Microfluidic Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Lab on a Chip
|February 9, 2011
Summary
Researchers developed a novel silicate glass coating for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannels, achieving durable, glass-like performance for applications in capillary electrophoresis and microfluidics.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannels often exhibit inferior performance compared to glass.
- Surface modification is crucial for enhancing PDMS microchannel functionality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a facile method for creating silicate glass-coated PDMS microchannels with glass-like performance.
- To improve the durability, solvent resistance, and electrokinetic behavior of PDMS microchannels.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a preceramic polymer, allylhydridopolycarbosilane (AHPCS), for coating PDMS.
- Hydrolyzing the AHPCS coating under aqueous alkali conditions to form a silicate glass layer.
- Characterizing the coated channels using XPS, FTIR-ATR, AFM, and contact angle measurements.
Main Results:
- The silicate glass coating provides excellent solvent resistance and stable, long-term electroosmotic flow (EOF) comparable to glass channels.
- The modified PDMS channels demonstrate reliable capillary electrophoresis (CE) performance.
- The electrokinetic behavior of the coated channels can be easily regenerated using alkali solution.
Conclusions:
- The developed silicate glass coating method offers a viable approach to achieving glass-like performance in PDMS microchannels.
- This technique enhances the utility of PDMS in microfluidic devices, particularly for CE applications.
- The coating method is adaptable to other polymer substrates like polyimide (PI).
