Microfluidics for Biologists Fundamentals and Applications

Table 6.2

Major components of the microfluidic platforms are the materials they are made of and the methods used to control the fluid flow [

8 ]

Property

Si/Glass

Ceramics

Elastomers Thermoset

Thermoplastics Hydrogel

Paper

Young

’s (tensile)

modulus (GPa)

130–180/50–90



120



0.0005

2.0–2.7

1.4–4.1

Low

0.0003–0.0025

Common techniquefor microfabrication

Photolithography Low temperature

co-firing technology

Casting

Casting, photo-polymerization

Thermo-molding

Casting, photo-polymerization

Photo-lithogra-phy, printing

Smallest channeldimension

<

100 nm



100

μm

<

1

μm

<

100 nm



100 nm



10

μm



200

μm

Channel profile

Limited 3D

3D

3D

Arbitrary 3D

3D

3D

2D

Multilayer channels Hard

Easy

Easy

Easy

Easy

Medium

Easy

Thermo-stability

Very high

Very high

Medium

High

Medium tohigh

Low

Medium

Resistance tooxidizer

Excellent

Excellent

Moderate

Good

Moderate togood

Low

Low

Solvent compatibility Very high

Very high

Low

High

Medium tohigh

Low

Medium

Hydrophobicity

Hydrophilic

Hydrophilic

Hydrophobic Hydrophobic

Hydrophobic

Hydrophilic

Amphiphilic

Surface charge

Very stable

Very stable

Not stable

Stable

Stable

N/A

N/A

Permeability tooxygen

<

0.01

<

0.01



500

0.03–1

0.05–5

>

1

>

1

Optical transparency No/high

No

High

High

Medium tohigh

Low to medium Low

160 P. Manickam et al.

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