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A stretchable conductive Polypyrrole Polydimethylsiloxane device fabricated by simple soft lithography and oxygen plasma treatment

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Abstract

This paper reports a simple method used to fabricate a stretchable conductive polypyrrole (PPy) rough pore-shape polydimethylsiloxane (p-PDMS) device. An abrasive paper is first used to imprint rough micro-structures on the SU-8 micromold. The p-PDMS microchannel is then fabricated using a standard soft-lithography process. An oxygen plasma treatment is then applied to form an irreversible sealing between the microchannel and a blank cover PDMS. The conductive layer is formed by injecting the PPy mixture into the microchannel which polymerizes in the rough pore-shape micro-structures; The PPy/p-PDMS hybrid device shows good electrical property and stretchability. The electrical properties of different geometrical designs of the PPy/p-PDMS microchannel under stretching were investigated, including straight, curved, and serpentine. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (NIH/3 T3) were also cultured inside the PPy/p-PDMS device to demonstrate good biocompatibility and feasibility using the conductive and stretchable microchannel in cell culture microfluidics applications. Finally, cyclic stretching and bending tests were performed to evaluate the reliability of PPy/p-PDMS microchannel.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, and National Central University–Cathay General Hospital joint research program, for financially supporting this project under Grant No. MOST 105-2221-E-008-061, MOST 104-2911-I-008-514, and 105 CGH-NCU-A2. S.H Tan gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (DE170100600), Griffith University-Peking University Collaboration Grant and Griffith University-Simon Fraser University collaborative grant.

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Author notes

  1. Dr. Wei-Wen Hu contributes equally to the first author.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Xu-Cheng Guo & Chia-Wen Tsao

  2. Centre for Biomedical Cell Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Wei-Wen Hu & Chia-Wen Tsao

  3. Department of Chemical and Material Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Wei-Wen Hu

  4. Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia

    Say Hwa Tan

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  1. Xu-Cheng Guo
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Correspondence to Chia-Wen Tsao.

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Guo, XC., Hu, WW., Tan, S.H. et al. A stretchable conductive Polypyrrole Polydimethylsiloxane device fabricated by simple soft lithography and oxygen plasma treatment. Biomed Microdevices 20, 30 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-018-0273-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-018-0273-9

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