Rapid preparation of highly reliable PDMS double emulsion microfluidic devices
Rapid preparation of highly reliable PDMS double emulsion microfluidic devices
复制标题
DOI：
10.1039/c6ra03225g
复制
发表时间：
2016-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Meldrum, Fiona C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Li, Shunbo;Gong, Xiuqing;Meldrum, Fiona C.
本文提出了一种简单且高度可靠的制备PDMS微流体双乳液装置的方法，该方法采用单步氧化等离子体处理来图案化微通道的润湿性并粘合芯片。作为我们战略的一个关键组成部分，我们使用环氧树脂胶来定义所需的疏水区，然后在等离子体处理后，但在粘合之前将其去除。这种新颖的方法在一个过程中实现了表面改性和器件密封，将芯片制备时间缩短到几分钟，并消除了对不可靠的涂层工艺的需求。我们的程序的第二个关键要素是图案化表面的维护，我们证明了用水或使用溶剂提取的PDMS立即填充制备的设备可以大大延长芯片的使用寿命。该技术的可靠性通过产生具有受控核/壳结构和体积的水包油包水（W/O/W）双乳液液滴以及小至55 μ m的直径来证实。它的多功能性通过简单地在相同的芯片设计上使用环氧树脂胶的不同放置来产生油包水包油（O/W/O）双乳液液滴来显示。因此，W/O/W和O/W/O双重乳液液滴可以由相同的软光刻模具产生。这种简单的方法克服了限制双重乳液更广泛使用的关键问题之一-缺乏可靠性-而其速度和简单性将促进单分散双重乳液的高通量生产。它也可以很容易地扩展到生产具有更复杂的亲水和疏水模式的微流控芯片。
This article presents a simple and highly reliable method for preparing PDMS microfluidic double emulsion devices that employs a single-step oxidative plasma treatment to both pattern the wettability of the microchannels and to bond the chips. As a key component of our strategy we use epoxy glue to define the required hydrophobic zones and then remove this after plasma treatment, but prior to bonding. This novel approach achieves surface modification and device sealing in a single process, which reduces chip preparation times to minutes and eliminates the need for unreliable coating processes. The second key element of our procedure is the maintenance of the patterned surfaces, where we demonstrate that immediate filling of the prepared device with water or the use of solvent-extracted PDMS vastly extends the operational lifetimes of the chips. The reliability of this technique is confirmed by generating water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsion droplets with controlled core/shell structures and volumes, and diameters as small as 55 mu m. Its versatility is shown by simply using a different placement of the epoxy glue on the same chip design to create oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) double emulsion droplets. Both W/O/W and O/W/O double emulsion droplets can therefore be created from the same soft-lithography mould. This simple method overcomes one of the key problems limiting the wider use of double emulsions - lack of reliability - while its speed and simplicity will facilitate the high-throughput production of monodisperse double emulsions. It could also be readily extended to produce microfluidic chips with more complex hydrophilic and hydrophobic patterns.