Reversible assembling of microfluidic devices by aspiration

This paper deals with a novel and flexible method for microfluidic device assembling. In general, microfluidic device assembly is obtained by irreversible sealing with anodic, thermal or chemical bonding. Reversible assembly can be obtained by aspiration through a crossing channel network (CCN) between the two pieces of microfluidic device (channels and substrate). In this way, relatively high injection pressure can be achieved in microfluidic channels without leakage. We describe the principle and the fabrication of such PDMS devices and also show two examples of the described assembly method applied to surface functionalization. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.