Immobilization of yeast cells within microchannels of different materials

Saccharomyces cerevisiae was successfully immobilized on the inner wall surface of channels of submillimeter diameter, which can be further used for the development of a highly productive continuous biotransformation process within a microfluidic device. Covalent bonding by means of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and glutaraldehyde was used for immobilization of cells to microchannels made of glass, polystyrene (PS), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) and fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP). All tested materials were successfully functionalized with H2SO4 to promote silanization. The effect of reaction time with acid on immobilization efficiency was studied for polymer materials. This is the first report on cell immobilization onto PTFE, FEP and PFA surface, which enables to develop a microfluidic device with surface bound biocatalyst from low cost and disposable materials.