Reduced UV light scattering in PDMS microfluidic devices

Abstract

Microfluidic devices which consist of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are used extensively for the production of polymer microparticles through the use of droplet templating and on-chip photopolymerization. However, in existing methods, spatial confinement of the photochemical droplet solidification is impaired by UV light scattering inside the PDMS elastomer. We present a technique to load PDMS microfluidic devices with a fluorescent dye that absorbs the scattered UV light and shifts it to longer wavelengths. By this means, the stray light is no longer harmful, and UV exposure can be limited to a desired region on the microfluidic chip.