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Effects of embedded surfactants on the surface properties of PDMS; applicability for autonomous microfluidic systems

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Abstract

Controlled surface modification of the PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) was developed and studied in this work to develop autonomous capillary-driven microfluidic system to be applied in bioanalytical devices. The characteristics of the PDMS surfaces were modified by embedding adequate surfactant molecules in the polymer matrix to be moved onto the free surface by diffusion. The change of the surface characteristics was studied considering the expected performance in autonomous biomicrofluidic applications and the influence on non-specific human blood protein binding also. The method was evaluated from technological aspects also, as the integrability of the microfluidic system, considering the previously published results critically. Compositions were defined to be adequate for fabrication autonomous capillary system with enhanced transport efficiency and moderated non-specific protein adsorption.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (NKFIA) via the VKSZ_14-1-2015-0004 project and the MedInProt Protein Science Research Synergy Program of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The authors gratefully acknowledge the high-quality technical work of Magda Erős and Margit Payer regarding microfabrication processes. The authors also appreciate the important contribution of Judith Mihály, Vilmos Rakovics, Sándor Lenk, Nguyen Quoc Khanh and Krisztian Papp in implementation surface analytical methods (FTIR, UVVIS spectroscopy, AFM and cell viability studies), respectively.

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  1. MEMS Lab, Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 29-33 Konkoly-Thege str, Budapest, H-1121, Hungary

    Eszter Holczer & Péter Fürjes

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  1. Eszter Holczer
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  2. Péter Fürjes
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Correspondence to Eszter Holczer.

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Holczer, E., Fürjes, P. Effects of embedded surfactants on the surface properties of PDMS; applicability for autonomous microfluidic systems. Microfluid Nanofluid 21, 81 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-017-1916-5

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