PNNL

Abstract

The mechanism of polymer disolution was explored for polymer microsystem prototyping, including microfluidics and optofluidics. Polymer films are immersed in a solvent, imprinted and finally brought into contact with a non-modified surface to permanently bond. The underlying polymer-solvent interactions were experimentally and theoretically investigated, and enabled rapid polymer microsystem prototyping. During imprinting, small molecule integration in the molded surfaces was feasible, a principle applied to oxygen sensing. Polystyrene (PS) was employed for microbiological studies at extreme environmental conditions. The thermophile anaerobe Clostridium Thermocellum was grown in PS pore-scale micromodels, revealing a double mean generation lifetime than under ideal culture conditions. Microsystem prototyping through directed polymer dissolution is simple and accessible, while simultaneous patterning, bonding, and surface/volume functionalization are possible in less than one minute.