Fabrication of PEG Hydrogel and PDMS Microstructures by a Simple UV Curing Process for Nanobio-Chip Applications

Abstract

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel microstructures with various shapes and sizes on a glass chip were prepared by a simple and rapid ultraviolet (UV) irradiation method using a metal mask. Photocurable PEG solution prepared by mixing 95 wt.% polyethylene glycol diacrylate and 5 wt.% 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone as a photo-initiator was injected to the gap between bottom and upper glasses in a simply assembled glass chip. After a metal mask with line-and-space or complex patterns was placed on the glass chip, UV light from a spot UV irradiation device was exposed to the glass chip through the metal mask for 7 seconds at UV intensity of 26 mW/cm2. Then the PEG hydrogel micropatterns on the glass chip were obtained after removing unreacted PEG solution by air blowing. To prepare more rigid microstructure, the prepared PEG micropatterned chip was exposed under UV light for 20 seconds. Then the PEG hydrogel micropattern chip was fabricated by a simple and rapid procedure. Micropattern transferring was performed from the PEG hydrogel chip to polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) replica by a solution casting. The prepared micropatterned PDMS replicas showed similar shape and size of microstructures compared to that of the corresponded PEG hydrogel chip. Thus the PEG hydrogel microstructures on a glass chip could be used as a mold to fabricate micropattern PDMS chips for nanobio-chip applications. Furthermore, the present method provides large scale chip fabrication, more than 4 cm-length and 4 cm-width in a single step, not only PEG hydrogel chips but also PDMS chips.