Abstract
Two different surface activation methods (UV/ozone and oxygen plasma treatment) were applied for patterned surface activation of cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) surfaces combined with different masking techniques (metal shadow mask and protective tape). Surface properties were characterized by various methods such as contact angle measurement, ATR-IR, XPS and Surface enhanced ellipsometric contrast (SEEC) microscopy. UV/ozone and oxygen plasma allowed for patterned surface modification of COP leading to the formation of carboxylic and hydroxyl groups on the activated part of the surface. Stability against organic solvents was determined by rinsing the activated substrates with 2-propanol. For UV/ozone treatment it was found that a thin film of degradation products remains on the COP surface and is at least partly removed in the following washing or rinsing steps.
Highlights
In the last decade the use of microsystems technology for biotechnological applications has seen a tremendous development
Oxygen plasma treatment of cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) resulted in a rapid decrease of the water contact angel from 91° to approx. 30° even for plasma treatment times as short as 30 seconds
4 Conclusions UV/ozone and oxygen plasma were applied for patterned surface activation of COP surfaces using metal shadow masks or protective tapes to define the areas to be activated
Summary
In the last decade the use of microsystems technology for biotechnological applications has seen a tremendous development. In the field of bioanalytical methods; miniaturized systems like microfluidic devices and biochips have enabled important advances in genomics, proteomics, and diagnostics. One of the most promising thermoplastic materials for the development of low-cost microfluidic devices and lab-on-a-chip systems are cyclo-olefin polymers and copolymers (COP/COC) [2]. They are especially suited for miniaturized biosensor systems comprising optical detection schemes due to their easy processing and excellent optical properties (high transparency and low autofluorescence). While a huge number of well-developed surface modification techniques is available for many standard materials used in microfluidic technology (such as glass, silicon or PDMS) [3], such methods are still relatively scarce for thermoplastic polymers like COP. Similar concepts have been described for direct biofunctionalization with proteins and oligonucleotides after UV-ozone treatment [6,7] and cell seeding after plasma
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