Polyelectrolyte derivatization of microfluidic devices
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Commerce
InventorsLaurie E. Locascio, Susan L. R. Barker, David Ross, Michael J. Tarlov
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Abstract
A microchannel device is provided with a plastic substrate having a microchannel formed therein. Polyelectrolyte multilayers are disposed along selected surfaces of the microchannel. The polyelectrolyte layers comprise alternating net positively charged layers and net negatively charged layers. A microchannel lid has a surface facing the microchannel. In making the microchannel device, selected surfaces of the microchannel are alternatively exposed to solutions comprising positively charged polyelectrolytes and negatively charged polyelectrolytes to form the desired number of polyelectrolyte layers.
Claims46
A microchannel device, comprising:
- a plastic substrate having a microchannel formed therein, said microchannel having a geometry with at least one spatial dimension on the order of micrometers;
- polyelectrolyte layers comprising alternating layers of at least one net positively charged layer or net negatively charged layer, said polyelectrolyte layers disposed along at least a portion of a microchannel surface;
- and
- a lid disposed over said microchannel and having a lid surface facing said microchannel.
A method of manufacturing a microchannel device, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a plastic substrate with a microchannel formed therein, the microchannel having at least one spatial dimension that are in the micrometer-size range;
- exposing selected surfaces of the microchannel to a first solution comprising positively charged polyelectrolytes;
- exposing the selected surfaces of the microchannel to a second solution comprising negatively charged polyelectrolytes;
- and
- repeating said steps of exposing the selected surfaces of the microchannel to the first solution and said exposing the selected surfaces of the microchannel to the second solution, alternately, as necessary, to form a desired number of polyelectrolyte multilayers on the selected surfaces.
A microchannel device, comprising:
- a plastic substrate having a microchannel formed therein, said microchannel having, a first microchannel wall portion and a second microchannel wall portion;
- a first polyelectrolyte layer disposed as an outermost surface on said first microchannel wall portion and a second polyelectrolyte layer disposed as an outermost surface on said second microchannel wall portion, said first polyelectrolyte layer and said second polyelectrolyte layer having opposite charges;
- and
- a lid disposed over said microchannel and having a lid surface facing said microchannel.
A method of manufacturing a microchannel device, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a plastic substrate with a microchannel microchannel formed therein, said microchannel having a first microchannel wall surface and a second microchannel wall surface;
- and
- forming at least one polyelectrolyte layer on selected microchannel surfaces of the microchannel by exposing selected portions of the first microchannel wall surface and the second microchannel wall surface to a first solution comprising first charged polyelectrolytes;
- and
- selectively exposing selected portions of the first microchannel wall surface with a second solution comprising second charged polyelectrolytes, the second charged polyelectrolytes having a charge opposite to that of the first polyelectrolytes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.