Dissolution-guided wetting for microarray and microfluidic devices

Lab Chip. 2012 Sep 7;12(17):3036-9. doi: 10.1039/c2lc40330g. Epub 2012 Jul 20.

Abstract

The trapping of air bubbles presents a substantial impediment for the user in the increasingly widespread use of lab-on-a-chip products having microcavities in the forms of microwells, traps, dead ends and corners. Here we demonstrate a simple, effective, and passive method to eliminate air bubbles by coating hydrophilized microarray and microfluidic devices with a monosaccharide such as D-glucose or D-sorbitol, where the microcavities are filled with a conformal, elliptical, cone-shaped monosaccharide solid. These devices were stored in air for up to 6 months with a complete rewetting of the microcavities by dissolution of the monosaccharide with an aqueous solution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes / chemistry
  • Glucose / chemistry
  • Microarray Analysis / instrumentation*
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Sorbitol / chemistry
  • Water / chemistry
  • Wettability*

Substances

  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes
  • Water
  • Sorbitol
  • baysilon
  • Glucose