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Electroosmotic flow in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) channel does not depend on percent curing agent
Author(s) -
Wheeler Aaron R.,
Trapp Gabriele,
Trapp Oliver,
Zare Richard N.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.200305784
Subject(s) - curing (chemistry) , microfluidics , materials science , silicon , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , composite material , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , chemistry , chromatography , optoelectronics , engineering
Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic devices were prepared from different ratios of “curing agent” (which contains silicon hydride groups) to “base” (which contains vinyl‐terminated noncross‐linked PDMS), to determine the effect of this ratio on electroosmotic flow (EOF). In fabricating devices for this purpose, a novel method for permanently enclosing PDMS channels was developed. As a supplement to the microfluidic method, the inner walls of capillaries were coated with PDMS formed from varying ratios of curing agent to base. EOF was found to be constant for PDMS formed with each ratio, which implies that the negative surface charges do not arise from chemical species present only in the base or the curing agent.