화학공학소재연구정보센터
Thin Solid Films, Vol.520, No.6, 2293-2300, 2012
Fluoropolymers coatings on polydimethylsiloxane for retarding swelling in toluene
Microfluidic architectures for lab-on-a-chip applications are often made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a polymeric material easy to use, cheap and widely compatible with biomaterials but with a low stability towards organic solvents. Its chemical resistance can be increased by covering the channel walls with relatively stable films. In this perspective, fluoropolymers are a class of interesting materials due to their inertness properties. In this work we prepared coatings of fluoropolymers on PDMS and we characterized them by Quartz Crystal Microbalance, Atomic Force Microscopy, and contact angle. The swelling tests performed gave a proof of their application for increasing PDMS stability towards organic solvents. The incorporation of fluoropolymers into PDMS microchannels was also demonstrated. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.