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A room-temperature bonding technique for the packaging of hydrogel-based hybrid microfluidic devices

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Abstract

We present a room-temperature bonding technique which enables the sealing of micromolded water-swollen poly-2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate (PHEMA)-based hydrogel modules to thermoplastic and elastomeric platforms. The core mechanism of the proposed method is to favor the formation of hydrogen bonds at the interface between the surface-reactive hydrated hydrogel components and the functionalized hydrophobic materials, by contacting the polymeric layers via a mild compression. Plasma oxygen and silanization processes using 3-amino-propyl trimethoxy silane have been optimized to generate surface hydroxyl functionalities on poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA) and poly-dimethyl siloxane (PDMS) platforms which can react with the OH groups’ enriched surface of the microstructured PHEMA. The resulting microsystems can operate in a continuous perfusion mode while being soaked in water to keep the hydrogel hydrated. The method could also be applied to bond PHEMA thin layers (300 μm thick) to PMMA and PDMS microfluidic components. The sealing properties of the produced devices were demonstrated by liquid leakage tests and further validated by hydration–dehydration cycles of the systems and by monitoring methylene blue diffusion through the hydrogel matrix at the modules interface. The presented technique is suitable for cells-based hybrid materials microfluidic devices rapid prototyping.

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Abbreviations

APS:

Ammonium persulfate

APTES:

3-Amino-propyl trimethoxy silane

EGDMA:

Ethylene glycol di-methacrylate

LOC:

Lab on a chip

PDMS:

Poly-dimethyl siloxane

PHEMA:

Poly-hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate

PMMA:

Poly-methyl methacrylate

TEMED:

Tetramethyl ethylene diamine

TMSPMA:

3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylates

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Acknowledgments

This work has been supported by Fondazione CARIPLO for the project ‘Hybrid Multifunctional Microdevices to Probe Cell Biology’, under the Program ‘Promuovere progetti internazionali finalizzati al reclutamento di giovani ricercatori’.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Centro Interdisciplinare Materiali e Interfacce Nanostrutturati (CIMaINa), University of Milan, Via Celoria, 16, 20133, Milan, Italy

      Tommaso Santaniello, Yunsong Yan, Paolo Milani & Cristina Lenardi

    2. European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM), Campus IFOM-IEO, Via Adamello 16, 20139, Milan, Italy

      Yunsong Yan

    3. Fondazione Filarete, Viale Ortles 22/4, 20139, Milan, Italy

      Alessandro Tocchio, Federico Martello, Paolo Milani & Cristina Lenardi

    Authors
    1. Tommaso Santaniello
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    2. Yunsong Yan
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    3. Alessandro Tocchio
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    4. Federico Martello
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    5. Paolo Milani
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    6. Cristina Lenardi
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    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Tommaso Santaniello.

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    Tommaso Santaniello and Yunsong Yan have equally contributed to this work.

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    Santaniello, T., Yan, Y., Tocchio, A. et al. A room-temperature bonding technique for the packaging of hydrogel-based hybrid microfluidic devices. Microfluid Nanofluid 19, 31–41 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-015-1544-x

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-015-1544-x

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