Chitosan as an Alternative to Oil-Based Materials for the Fabrication of Lab-on-a-Chip

Given the growing importance of lab-on-a-chip in a number of fields, such as medical diagnosis or environmental analysis, the fact that the current fabrication process relies mainly on oil-based polymers raises an ecological concern. As an eco-responsible alternative, we presented, in this article, a manufacturing process for microfluidic devices from chitosan, a bio-sourced, biodegradable, and biocompatible polysaccharide. From chitosan powder, we produced thick and rigid films. To prevent their dissolution and reduce their swelling when in contact with aqueous solutions, we investigated a film neutralization step and characterized the mechanical and physical properties of the resulting films. On these neutralized chitosan films, we compared two micropatterning methods, i.e., hot embossing and mechanical micro-drilling, based on the resolution of microchannels from 100 µm to 1000 µm wide. Then, chitosan films with micro-drilled channels were bonded using a biocompatible dry photoresist on a glass slide or another neutralized chitosan film. Thanks to this protocol, the first functional chitosan microfluidic devices were prepared. While some steps of the fabrication process remain to be improved, these preliminary results pave the way toward a sustainable fabrication of lab-on-a-chip.