A METHOD FOR PRODUCING A POLYMER-BASED MICROFLUIDICS SYSTEM FOR BIOANALYTICS USING BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANES

摘要

Fully polymer-based microfluidic system containing a thin PEEK polymer sheet in which one pore or arrays of pores of 1 to 20 micrometer diameter and a low aspect ratio of about 1:1 allow spontaneous formation of lipid bilayers. Such device allows the simple preparation of bilayers and electrochemical and optical detection of signals related to membrane-associated protein activities and perfusion. The method for producing such a microfluidic system comprises the steps of: ° a) providing a first high performance thermoplastic polymer foil (2); ° b) generating a plurality of pores (6) in said first foil (2); ° c) providing at least one second high performance thermoplastic polymer foil (4) having an embossed channel structure (8) for guiding a liquid; ° d) aligning the first foil (2) and at least one second foil (4) in order to enable an access to the channel structure (8) via the pores (6); and ° e) bonding the first foil (2) to at least one second foil (4) by thermal pressing with a pressure power of up to 2.5 MN and a predetermined course of the temperature in the range of 20 to 160°C.