Laser-polymerized microfluidic devices for protein and cell processing

Brian J. Kirby, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Cornell University

Abstract

The performance of analysis and synthesis systems that require fluid-wall chemical interactions (e.g., chromatography or surface-catalyzed reaction) improves as the operating pressure is increased. Techniques for generating thousands of atmospheres of pressure in microfluidic systems will be presented, along with the unique capability to control, rout, and inject picoliter volumes in these high-pressure flows. Laser-polymerization techniques have been developed for in-situ fabrication of mobile polyfluoroacrylate elements whose performance emulates high-pressure Teflon-Teflon seals.

In-situ laser-polymerization using projection lithography techniques overcomes the inherent resolution limitations of offset contact lithography and allows formation of polymer features as small as 5 ¼m. This capability, combined with the ability to tune the nanostructure of the polymer elements via macroscopic control of formulation and polymerization kinetics, enables photopatterning of thin dialysis membranes inside microchips, which uniquely enables processing of small volumes of nascent analytes, e.g., cell lysates. Ongoing work will also be presented, including fluidic topics of both microscopic dimension (protein refolding and microparticle processing) and nanoscopic dimension (nanoparticle processing and wall-induced constitutive variations in fluids).

Thursday, November 10th
337 Towne Bldg.
2:00 – 3:00 p.m.