Proprietary mixture of polyurethane methacrylate (PUMA) and off-stoichiometry thiol-ene (OSTE-80) are evaluated as two possible polymeric substrates to prototype microfluidic biochips. Because of their lack of biocompatibility, PUMA and OSTE-80 are modified by argon (Ar) or nitrogen (N 2 ) plasma treatment to introduce nitrogen moieties that are highly polar and conducive for cell attachment and growth. XPS and water contact angle measurement show that these nitrogen groups are relatively stable in the plasma-treated PUMA and OSTE-80 in spite of the hydrophobic recovery and volatilization of nitrogen moieties during air ageing for 15 days. This stability can be attributed to their high degree crosslinking that is reflected by the increase of elastic modulus of PUMA and OSTE-80 during their air ageing. These results show that Ar and N 2 plasma-treated PUMA and OSTE-80 possess the necessary physical and chemical properties to be evaluated further to develop microfluidic biochips for biological applications.
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