Mechanical Engineering Department, Louisiana State University, Louisiana, USA.
Lab Chip. 2011 Sep 7;11(17):2984-9. doi: 10.1039/c1lc20294d. Epub 2011 Jul 22.
Development of all polymer-based nanofluidic devices using replication technologies, which is a prerequisite for providing devices for a larger user base, is hampered by undesired substrate deformation associated with the replication of multi-scale structures. Therefore, most nanofluidic devices have been fabricated in glass-like substrates or in a polymer resist layer coated on a substrate. This letter presents a rapid, high fidelity direct imprinting process to build polymer nanofluidic devices in a single step. Undesired substrate deformation during imprinting was significantly reduced through the use of a polymer stamp made from a UV-curable resin. The integrity of the enclosed all polymer-based nanofluidic system was verified by a fluorescein filling experiment and translocation/stretching of λ-DNA molecules through the nanochannels. It was also found that the funnel-like design of the nanochannel inlet significantly improved the entrance of DNA molecules into nanochannels compared to an abrupt nanochannel/microfluidic network interface.
采用复制技术开发所有基于聚合物的纳流控器件，这是为更大用户群提供器件的前提，但由于与多尺度结构复制相关的不期望的基底变形，该技术受到阻碍。因此，大多数纳流控器件都是在玻璃状基底上或涂覆在基底上的聚合物抗蚀剂层中制造的。本文提出了一种快速、高保真度的直接压印工艺，可一步构建聚合物纳流控器件。通过使用由紫外光固化树脂制成的聚合物压印模具，显著减少了压印过程中的基底不期望变形。通过荧光素填充实验和 λ-DNA 分子通过纳米通道的易位/拉伸，验证了封闭的全聚合物纳流控系统的完整性。还发现纳米通道入口的漏斗状设计与纳米通道/微流控网络接口的突然变化相比，显著改善了 DNA 分子进入纳米通道的入口。
