TY - JOUR
T1 - Atmospheric pressure atomic layer deposition for in-channel surface modification of PDMS microfluidic chips
AU - Santoso, Albert
AU - David, M. Kristen
AU - Boukany, Pouyan E.
AU - van Steijn, Volkert
AU - van Ommen, J. Ruud
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the materials of choice for the fabrication of microfluidic chips. However, its broad application is constrained by its incompatibility with common organic solvents and the absence of surface anchoring groups for surface functionalization. Current solutions involving bulk-, ex-situ surface-, and in-situ liquid phase modifications are limited and practically demanding. In this work, we present a simple, novel strategy to deposit a metal oxide nano-layer on the inside of bonded PDMS microfluidic channels using atmospheric pressure atomic layer deposition (AP-ALD). Using three important classes of microfluidic experiments, i.e., (i) the production of micron-sized particles, (ii) the cultivation of biological cells, and (iii) the photocatalytic degradation in continuous flow chemistry, we demonstrate that the metal oxide nano-layer offers a higher resistance against organic solvent swelling, higher hydrophilicity, and a higher degree of further functionalization of the wall. We demonstrate the versatility of the approach by not only depositing SiOx nano-layers, but also TiOx nano-layers, which in the case of the flow chemistry experiment were further functionalized with gold nanoparticles through the use of AP-ALD. This study demonstrates AP-ALD as a tool to broaden the applicability of PDMS devices.
AB - Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the materials of choice for the fabrication of microfluidic chips. However, its broad application is constrained by its incompatibility with common organic solvents and the absence of surface anchoring groups for surface functionalization. Current solutions involving bulk-, ex-situ surface-, and in-situ liquid phase modifications are limited and practically demanding. In this work, we present a simple, novel strategy to deposit a metal oxide nano-layer on the inside of bonded PDMS microfluidic channels using atmospheric pressure atomic layer deposition (AP-ALD). Using three important classes of microfluidic experiments, i.e., (i) the production of micron-sized particles, (ii) the cultivation of biological cells, and (iii) the photocatalytic degradation in continuous flow chemistry, we demonstrate that the metal oxide nano-layer offers a higher resistance against organic solvent swelling, higher hydrophilicity, and a higher degree of further functionalization of the wall. We demonstrate the versatility of the approach by not only depositing SiOx nano-layers, but also TiOx nano-layers, which in the case of the flow chemistry experiment were further functionalized with gold nanoparticles through the use of AP-ALD. This study demonstrates AP-ALD as a tool to broaden the applicability of PDMS devices.
KW - Atomic layer deposition
KW - In situ surface modification
KW - Microfluidics
KW - Polydimethylsiloxane
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85203014619&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cej.2024.155269
DO - 10.1016/j.cej.2024.155269
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85203014619
SN - 1385-8947
VL - 498
JO - Chemical Engineering Journal
JF - Chemical Engineering Journal
M1 - 155269
ER -