Microfluidic "thin chips" for chemical separations

Abstract

This paper describes the design, development and application of microfluidic "thin chips"; fabricated from PDMS. Thin chips consist of multiple layers of PDMS chemically bonded onto each other. Unlike thicker PDMS chips that suffer from lack of sensitivity due to PDMS absorption in the VIS and UV range, the thinness of these chips allows for the detection of chromophoric species within the microchannel via an external fiber optics detection system. C18-modified reversed-phase silica particles are packed into the microchannel using a temporary taper created by a magnetic valve and separations using both pressure- and electrochromatographic-driven methods are detailed. © 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.