A rapid, easy-to-implement, and potentially large-scale production method for fabricating high-aspect-ratio columnar-like nanostructures on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is demonstrated. Plasma treatment of PDMS under appropriate conditions in SF6 gas, followed by plasma-induced fluorocarbon film deposition, results in PDMS surfaces of fully controlled wetting properties, geometrical characteristics leading to robust superhydrophobic surfaces, and transparency. Potential applications to microfluidic devices are outlined.

A low cost, low temperature process for sealing microfluidic devices composed of at least one organic polymeric substrate is presented. The process is based on the surface modification of the organic substrate by means of a silane solution, resulting in irreversible bonding. It is a generic method of bonding polymeric/plastic substrates, bare or structured ones, such as poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA), polystyrene (PS) or epoxy-type polymers, to Si-containing substrates, such as poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), Si and glass. In the case that bonding between organic polymer (PMMA, PS, etc) substrates is desired, an intermediate thin PDMS layer is required.

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The use of SF6 plasma-nanotextured poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrates of columnarlike surface topography as templates for protein adsorption is presented. Fresh and aged plasma-nanostructured surfaces are investigated, since ageing affects surface wettability, a critical parameter in protein adsorption. It is found that protein adsorption on such substrates increases with plasma treatment duration and surface ageing. An enhancement (up to ten times) in adsorption of biotinylated bovine serum albumin is observed on aged nanostructured PDMS substrates compared to untreated ones. Good spot homogeneity is obtained on surfaces treated for up to 6min. The use of optimized plasma-nanostructured surfaces as substrates for protein microarrays of intense and uniform spots is demonstrated.