A review of commercial and laboratory-based microfluidic devices based on glass and/or silicon substrates

Abstract

Microfluidic devices are increasingly being sought after as powerful alternatives to traditional macroscopic benchtop biochemical analysis systems due to their lower cost, faster analysis times, and reduced reagent consumption. Advances in additive manufacturing and semiconductor fabrication have simplified device realization, enabling their integration into a wide range of biochemical applications. Microfluidic devices were initially fabricated using glass and silicon as substrate materials. However, as the demand for more complex structures has increased, new materials have been introduced. Among these are soft and thermoplastic polymers, which are well suited to techniques such as soft molding, injection molding, and hot embossing. Despite these developments, surface-treated glass and silicon are preferred for high-grade analyses due to their superior chemical, biological, thermal, and physical properties. In this review, we highlight recent progress in commercially and semi-commercially available microfluidic devices based on glass and silicon substrates. We summarize key fabrication methods and their applications and examine how these platforms are advancing toward integrated readout, actuation, and sensing capabilities for a complete lab-on-a-chip system.