Stable nonpolar solvent droplet generation using a poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic channel coated with poly-p-xylylene for a nanoparticle growth

Applications of microfluidic devices fabricated in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) have been limited to water-based analysis rather than nonpolar solvent based chemistry due to a PDMS swelling problem that occurs by the absorption of the solvents. The absorption and swelling causes PDMS channel deformation in shape, and changes the cross sectional area making it difficult to control the flow rate and concentrations of solution in PDMS microfluidic channels. We propose that poly-pxylylene polymers (parylenes) are chemical vapors deposited on the surfaces of PDMS channels that alleviate the effect of solvents on the absorption and swelling. The parylene coated surface sustains 3 h with a small volumetric change (less than 22 % of PDMS swelling ratio). By generating an air-nonpolar solvent interface based on droplets in PDMS channel, we confirmed poly-pxylylene coated PDMS microfluidic channels have the potential to be applicable to nanocrystal growth using nonpolar solvents.