Novel transparent poly(silazane) derived solvent-resistant, bio-compatible microchannels and substrates: application in microsystem technology

Abstract

In this report we have described fabrication of preceramic polymer-derived transparent, solvent-resistant, thermally stable and bio-compatible microchannels and substrates using soft-lithography methods such as micromolding in capillary (MIMIC) and micromolding. The micromolding technique was preferred in the current work to fabricate channels by thermal and photo crosslinking of a commercially available poly(vinyl silazane) (VL 20, KION Corporation, USA). Both thermal and photo cured preceramic polymer channels were found to possess unique glass-like characteristics, such as transparency and chemical inertness. However, their surfaces were identified to be hydrophobic with a contact angle of 101 degrees . To have an insight on the nature of the surface groups present on the surface of the cured preceramic polymer, ATR-IR was carried out. The hydrophobic nature of the cured polymer was best utilized for direct patterning of protein by nonspecific binding.

Characterization and fabrication of polyvinylsilazane glass microfluidic channels via soft lithographic technique

“…9. It is believed that the transparent polyvinylsilazane glass derived microchannels and structures have tremendous potentials because of high optical transparency, thermal stability and chemical inertness [27,28]. Furthermore, a preliminary study for photochemical reactions using microfluidics is highly expected as an obvious niche between conventional microfluidics using glass and ceramic materials.…”

Solvent‐Resistant PDMS Microfluidic Devices with Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Polymer Coatings

“…The modified PDMS surfaces are even more compatible with polar solvents as they cause little to no swelling. When PDMS microchannels come into contact with a solvent that causes swelling, the solvent may extract non-crosslinked oligomers www.afm-journal.de www.MaterialsViews.com [a] Reference values of swelling ratio (D D 0 À1 ) of PDMS are as reported [12]. We calculated the swelling ratio of PDMS (%) using [(W-W 0 )/W 0 ] Â 100 after the loading of various solvents for 12 h. The sequence of solvents is arranged in order of the swelling ratio of PDMS for various solvents.…”

“…Whitesides et al reported that representative swelling solvents are trichloroethylene, triethylamine, benzene, cyclohexane, chloroform, hexane, and toluene [12]. Therefore, we investigated toluene-based droplet generation in the HR4-modified microfluidic device to assess its solvent resistance and compatibility.…”

Fabrication of Inorganic Polymer‐Based Microchannel with Emphasis on New Bonding Procedure

“…This limits the ability to fabricate simple, low-cost microfluidic reactors using micro-molding and imprinting process. Our group has successfully fabricated PVS glass microfluidic devices with high optical transparency, thermal stability and chemical inertness (9). In further continuation, the present communication describes a simpler method for fabricating PVS microfluidic devices with the same physicochemical characteristics.…”

“…In the newly developed process UVcuring was followed by a thermal curing step leading to complete curing of the polymeric material. The final curing conditions were similar to those used in our previous work (9). While it is possible to fabricate microchannels using the same materials as used previously (9), we speculate that some of the functional features may not be reproduced with high precision.…”