Thermoplastic microfluidic devices for targeted chemical and biological applications

Abstract

Combining photolithography and hot embossing offers the capability of cost-efficient and high-fidelity fabrication of polymer microfluidic devices, however, poor chemical resistance in nonpolar organic solvents and high gas permeability of the currently used polymers narrow the range of applications of the microfluidic devices. With the aim of specific chemical or biological applications, we report the fabrication of microfluidic devices in a broader range of thermoplastic polymers. For chemical reactions to be conducted in aromatic and hydrocarbon solvents, microfluidic reactors fabricated in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) showed excellent compatibility with a range of organic solvents. Microfluidic devices fabricated in polyvinylchloride (PVC) exhibited drastically reduced gas permeability, in comparison with devices fabricated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). To address the needs of biorelated research, we fabricated polystyrene (PS) microfluidic devices containing high-density, two-dimensional arrays of aqueous droplets.