A simple PDMS-based electro-fluidic interface for microchip electrophoretic separations

Abstract

High voltage electrodes for electrophoresis have been integrated into a polymer layer that can be reversibly bound to glass microchips for electrophoretic separations. By using the liquid precursor to the polymer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), platinum electrodes and reservoirs can be positioned prior to solidification, providing a simple and flexible method for electrode interface construction. Field strengths up to 875 V cm⁻¹ over an 8 cm separation channel can be applied to the system without any loss in performance of the interface. The interface can function as an electro-fluidic interface between the high voltage power supply and the separation channel and, when reversibly sealed to an etched glass plate, functions as a cover plate establishing a hybrid PDMS–glass microchip in which the electrodes are directly integrated onto the device. The versatility of this approach is not only demonstrated by separating DNA fragments in a novel buffer sieving matrix, but also with the molecular diagnostic analysis of a variety of DNA samples for Duschenne Muscular Dystrophy and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, using both microchip interface configurations.