High performance of cyclic olefin copolymer-based capillary electrophoretic chips.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) is a promising material for microfluidic devices.
• Surface modification is crucial for enhancing hemocompatibility and performance of microcapillary electrophoresis (CE) chips.
• Existing methods may be complex or costly, limiting widespread application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simple, low-cost, one-step surface modification technique for COC microchannels.
• To enhance hemocompatibility and protein resistance of COC-based CE chips.
• To evaluate the performance of modified chips for biomolecule separation.

Main Methods:

• UV-photografting of N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) monomer onto COC microchannels.
• Optimization of grafting conditions.
• Surface characterization using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR).
• In vitro protein adsorption studies using fluorescent labeled bovine serum albumin (FITC-BSA).
• Capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation of proteins.

Main Results:

• Achieved highly hemocompatible microchannels with excellent surface wettability and bond strength.
• Confirmed successful surface grafting via ATR-FTIR.
• Demonstrated significantly reduced protein adsorption due to increased surface hydrophilicity.
• Obtained high-efficiency protein separations (up to 51,000 theoretical plates/meter) with good reproducibility.
• Maintained optical transparency of the modified microchannel surfaces.

Conclusions:

• The UV-photografting method provides an effective and economical route for modifying COC microchannels.
• The enhanced hemocompatibility and protein resistance are beneficial for microfluidic applications.
• The modified COC chips are suitable for high-performance separation of proteins and other biomolecules.
• This technique holds potential for developing advanced COC microfluidic devices.