Dye-based coatings for hydrophobic valves and their application to polymer labs-on-a-chip
19.03.2010
Riegger L, Mielnik MM, Gulliksen A, Mark D, Steigert J, Lutz S, Clad M, Zengerle R, Koltay P, Hoffmann J
J. Micromech. Microeng. 20 (2010) 045021 (6pp)
J. Micromech. Microeng. online article
We provide a method for the selective surface patterning of microfluidic chips with hydrophobic fluoropolymers which is demonstrated by the fabrication of hydrophobic valves via dispensing. It enables efficient optical quality control for the surface patterning thus permitting the low-cost production of highly reproducible hydrophobic valves. Specifically, a solution based on carbon black (CB) is presented in detail which creates superhydrophobic surfaces on arbitrary substrates.