“Clicked” fluoropolymer elastomers as robust materials for potential microfluidic device applications

Abstract

We report the design and synthesis of a new perfluoropolyether-based material, which has liquid-like viscosity and can be cured into a tough, highly durable elastomer when “clicked” with selected tri-pod organic small molecules. This highly fluorinated elastomer exhibits remarkable resistance to a variety of organic solvents, water, heat and even harsh acidic and basic conditions. Whereas PDMS-based microfluidic devices are commonly used for aqueous based applications, their limited chemical resistance and high swellability in many common organic solvents make it unfeasible for microfluidic applications involving organic solvents and/or harsh conditions. With excellent chemical resistance and low swellability, our newly synthesized fluoro-elastomers will hopefully provide an alternative material for organic based microfluidic devices. Furthermore, the alkyne–azide “click” chemistry employed in curing not only provides high efficiency of synthesis and ease of device fabrication, but, more importantly, produces 1,2,3-triazole linkages that are very stable against harsh acidic or basic conditions. This work has great potential to expand microfluidics to a series of novel applications especially in organic and medicinal chemistry.