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)