Perfluorinated poly(dimethylsiloxane) via the covalent attachment of perfluoroalkylsilanes on the oxidized surface: Effects on zeta-potential values

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is a widely-used polymer in microfluidic devices due to its range of physical and chemical properties suitable for molding micron-sized features. However, its hydrophobicity also leads to some limitations: it poorly supports electro-osmotic flow, and can be incompatible with biomolecules and with many organic solvents. Surface modification is commonly used to vary PDMS surface properties to make it more suitable for specific microfluidic applications. Here, we report on the surface modification of PDMS using perfluoroalkane–triethoxysilanes, via the covalent attachment of triethoxysilane groups on plasma-oxidized PDMS. A device constructed from such fluorinated materials could be used for separating fluorous-tagged proteins or peptides. Modified PDMS were characterized using a range of surface analytical methods. In particular, zeta- (ζ-) potential values at the interfaces of both modified and unmodified PDMS and under varying pH conditions were measured, as ζ-potential is an essential parameter to support electroosmotic flow (EOF), a common pumping method in microfluidic devices. The results showed the length of fluorinated alkane chain has significant effect on the density of surface modifying species and topography following modification. In addition, the perfluorinated modification increases the magnitude of the ζ-potential at the PDMS interface when compared to that of native PDMS, increasing the electro-osmotic flow rate, over a wide pH range. The modified surface is resistant to the diffusion of PDMS oligomers that affects other PDMS surface modification processes.