Acrylic Copolymer for Microfluidic devices

Acrylic Copolymer for Microfluidic devices - A new acrylic polymeric material that has inherent protein resistance and good physical properties to be used in the construction of microfluidic devices designed to separate proteins and peptides.

General Information

In the construction of microfluidic devices designed to separate proteins and peptides, polymeric materials are preferred over inorganic materials like glass, silicon, and quartz because they are inexpensive and easier to micro machine. However, in most all materials, including polymeric, sample loss and the subsequent loss of separation performance are common problems because biomacromolecules are adsorbed onto the channel walls. The current method of decreasing adsorption is through passivating the material through either dynamic coating or permanent surface modification through attachment of protein-resistant functional groups, and while the later process is preferred, it is a tedious, multi-step method of physical and chemical processing that complicates the protocol and requires a significant degree of skill from the worker.

This invention is a new acrylic polymeric material that has inherent protein resistance and good physical properties, thereby eliminating the passivating process altogether. The copolymer is a combination of specially synthesized poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), PEGMEMA, MMA, and DMPA. Several previous experiments on copolymers of PEG have indicated that this material has the physical and chemical properties suited for fabrication of microfluidic devices that are also protein absorption resistant. The amounts of PEGMEMA, MMA, and DMPA were balanced to optimize the photopolymerization reaction, maximize the mechanical strength of the polymer, and minimize protein adsorption.

The Market

This copolymer can be utilized as substrates in the fabrication of disposable polymeric microdevices such as micro-reactors, biosensors, microfluidic flow cytometers, microfluidic multi-dimensional separation devices, or conventional biomedical devices, and can find many applications in a broad range of areas such as biology, medicine, and proteomic studies.

Patent Information

Patent Pending: U.S. Patent Filed

The Inventors

Milton L. Lee, Faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University
Jikun Liu, Former analytical chemistry graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University (currently a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Maryland)

Licensing Information