The fabrication of lab-on-chip devices from fluoropolymers

Three different rapid manufacturing methods for the construction of fluoropolymer microfluidic devices were investigated: (1) fluoropolymer/epoxy laminate/fluoropolymer structures, (2) fluoropolymer/fluoropolymer structures and (3) fluoropolymer/epoxy laminate/glass structures. The structures are chemically and physically robust and the fluoropolymer constructs can be used for optical wave guiding. Principles behind the use of fluoropolymer waveguide constructs and a basic theoretical analysis of the improvements they offer are presented. The otherwise problematic bonding of the polymers was facilitated by chemical (sodium naphthalene) surface treatment. The effects of the process were characterized by contact angle and bond strength measurements. For demonstration purposes, microfluidic channels were fabricated using Ordyl SY epoxy laminate (methods 1 and 3) and hot embossing of the polymers (method 2). The first method (fluoropolymer/epoxy laminate/fluoropolymer) proved to be the most reliable and successful, in particular when bonding the various layers. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)