Chen Zhi, Zhang Luyan, Chen Gang
School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, PR China.
Electrophoresis. 2007 Jul;28(14):2466-73. doi: 10.1002/elps.200600643.
A method based on the in situ polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) has been developed for the rapid fabrication of a novel separation platform, fiber electrophoresis microchip. To demonstrate the concept, prepolymerized MMA molding solution containing a UV initiator was sandwiched between a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) cover plate and a PMMA base plate bearing glycerol-permeated fiberglass bundles and was exposed to UV light. During the UV-initiated polymerization, the fiberglass bundles were embedded in the PMMA substrate to form fiberglass-packed microchannels. When the glycerol in the fiberglass bundles was flushed away with water, the obtained porous fiberglass-packed channels could be employed to perform electrophoresis separation. Scanning electron micrographs (SEMs) and microscopic images offered insights into the fiber electrophoresis microchip. The analytical performance of the novel microchip has been demonstrated by separating and detecting dopamine and catechol in connection with end-column amperometric detection. The fiber-based microchips can be fabricated by the new approach without the need for complicated and expensive lithography-based microfabrication techniques, indicating great promise for the low-cost production of microchips, and should find a wide range of applications.
一种基于甲基丙烯酸甲酯（MMA）原位聚合的方法已被开发出来，用于快速制造一种新型分离平台——纤维电泳微芯片。为了验证这一概念，将含有紫外线引发剂的预聚合MMA成型溶液夹在聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯（PMMA）盖板和带有甘油渗透玻璃纤维束的PMMA基板之间，然后暴露于紫外线下。在紫外线引发的聚合过程中，玻璃纤维束被嵌入PMMA基板中，形成填充有玻璃纤维的微通道。当玻璃纤维束中的甘油用水冲洗掉后，所得到的多孔玻璃纤维填充通道可用于进行电泳分离。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）图像和显微镜图像为纤维电泳微芯片提供了深入了解。通过结合柱端安培检测对多巴胺和儿茶酚进行分离和检测，证明了这种新型微芯片的分析性能。基于纤维的微芯片可以通过这种新方法制造，无需复杂且昂贵的基于光刻的微制造技术，这表明微芯片低成本生产具有巨大潜力，并且应该会有广泛的应用。
