Biomicrofluidics 2014-07-01

A chitosan coated monolith for nucleic acid capture in a thermoplastic microfluidic chip.

Eric L Kendall, Erik Wienhold, Don L DeVoe

Index: Biomicrofluidics 8(4) , 044109, (2014)

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Abstract

A technique for microfluidic, pH modulated DNA capture and purification using chitosan functionalized glycidyl methacrylate monoliths is presented. Highly porous polymer monoliths are formed and subsequently functionalized off-chip in a batch process before insertion into thermoplastic microchannels prior to solvent bonding, simplifying the overall fabrication process by eliminating the need for on-chip surface modifications. The monolith anchoring method allows for the use of large cross-section monoliths enabling high flowrates and high DNA capture capacity with a minimum of added design complexity. Using monolith capture elements requiring less than 1 mm(2) of chip surface area, loading levels above 100 ng are demonstrated, with DNA capture and elution efficiency of 54.2% ± 14.2% achieved.