Hydrophilic Surface Modification of PDMS Microchannel for O/W and W/O/W Emulsions
A surface modification method for bonded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannels is presented herein. Polymerization of acrylic acid was performed on the surface of a microchannel using an inline atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier microplasma technique. The surface treatment changes the wetta...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/6/10/1429 |
| Summary: | A surface modification method for bonded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannels is presented herein. Polymerization of acrylic acid was performed on the surface of a microchannel using an inline atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier microplasma technique. The surface treatment changes the wettability of the microchannel from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. This is a challenging task due to the fast hydrophobic recovery of the PDMS surface after modification. This modification allows the formation of highly monodisperse oil-in-water (O/W) droplets. The generation of water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsions was successfully achieved by connecting in series a hydrophobic microchip with a modified hydrophilic microchip. An original channel blocking technique to pattern the surface wettability of a specific section of a microchip using a viscous liquid comprising a mixture of honey and glycerol, is also presented for generating W/O/W emulsions on a single chip. |
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| ISSN: | 2072-666X |