Hybrid Ceramic Polymers: New, Nonbiofouling, and Optically Transparent Materials for Microfluidics

A new, commercial hybrid ceramic polymer, Ormocomp, was introduced to the fabrication of microfluidic separation chips using two independent techniques, UV lithography and UV embossing. Both fabrication methods provided Ormocomp chips with stable cathodic electro-osmotic flow which enabled examination of the Ormocomp biocompatibility by means of microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE) and (intrinsic) fluorescence detection. The hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties of Ormocomp were examined by screening its interactions with bovine serum albumin and selected amino acids of varying hydrophobicity. The results show that the ceramic, organic inorganic polymer structure natively resists biofouling on microchannel walls even so that the Ormocomp microchips can be used in intact protein analysis without prior surface modification. With theoretical separation plates approaching 10(4) m(-1) for intact proteins and 10(6) m(-1) for amino acids and peptides, our results suggest that Ormocomp microchips hold record-breaking performance as microfluidic separation platforms. In addition, Ormocomp was shown to be suitable for optical fluorescence detection even at near-IN range (ex 355 nm) with detection limits at a nanomolar level (similar to 200 nM) for selected inherently fluorescent pharmaceuticals.