AVS 52nd International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Monday Sessions
       Session BI-MoP

Paper BI-MoP4
Pulsed rf Plasma Polymer Modification of Microfluidic Devices

Monday, October 31, 2005, 5:00 pm, Room Exhibit Hall C&D

Session: Biomaterial Interfaces Poster Session
Presenter: Z. Segu, Southern Illinois University
Authors: Z. Segu, Southern Illinois University
R.B. Timmons, University of Texas at Arlington
G.R. Kinsel, Southern Illinois University
Correspondent: Click to Email
There is a growing interest in the use of miniaturized systems - so-called "lab-on-a-chip" devices - for various analytical applications due to reduced solvent/reagent/sample consumption, shortened analysis time and the applicability of these devices to process / field analysis. One performance requirement for these devices often involves the ability to separate sometimes complex mixtures of analytes prior to detection. In conventional analytical instruments the separation step is most often achieved via gas or liquid chromatography using columns having a broad diversity of stationary phase chemistries. Introduction of similar diversity of chemistries into microfluidic devices can offer similar capabilities for complex analyte mixture separation while retaining the unique capabilities of the miniaturized system. In this research we explore the use of pulsed RF plasma polymer deposition for coating of channels in microfluidic devices. This approach to channel modification is attractive due to the conformal, sterile, pinhole-free, surface coverage of plasma polymer films and the wide variety of surface chemistries and functional group densities that can be achieved using RF plasma polymer deposition. In these initial studies RF plasma deposited microchannel polymer film coatings are investigated as a function of reactor power, monomer flow, monomer pressure, and positioning of the sample in the plasma reactor chamber. Resultant films are characterized by ellipsometry, SEM, FT-IR and XPS to determine various film properties including, film thickness, film uniformity and chemical functionality. These studies demonstrate the pulsed RF plasma polymer deposition can offer an effective means to incorporate a wide variety of chemical functionalities into microfluidic devices.