1. Material selection and surface treatment
Priority should be given to elastic materials such as PDMS, ensuring that the surface is free of contamination (such as fingerprints, grease), otherwise it will affect the bonding strength.
When bonding glass PDMS, the plasma treatment time should be controlled within 20-60 seconds. If it is too long, it will cause surface roughness and affect the bonding performance.
2. Operating environment and cleanliness
It is necessary to operate in a dust-free environment to avoid contamination of microchannels by dust or impurities, which may affect the accuracy of fluid control.
Immediate operation is required after plasma bonding to avoid a decrease in surface activity leading to bonding failure.
3. Fluid Control and Parameter Optimization
Accurately adjust the flow rate (such as 0.1-120ml/min) and pressure (pressure resistance should reach 3-5 bar) to avoid leakage or structural damage caused by improper parameters.
When generating droplets, it is necessary to optimize the oil-water two-phase ratio to ensure monodispersity.
4. Equipment maintenance and verification
Regularly inspect the plasma cleaning machine chamber to avoid oil molecule contamination affecting the bonding effect.
After the completion of chip production, pressure testing and fluid performance verification are required to ensure no leakage or blockage.
5. Biocompatibility and Application Adaptation
In drug delivery applications, it is necessary to select biocompatible materials (such as polymers and lipids) and verify the encapsulation efficiency and release characteristics of the carrier.
6. Key risk points
Bond failure: Improper or delayed plasma processing parameters can cause chip leakage.
Pollution risk: Environmental or equipment pollution may damage the function of microchannels and requires strict cleaning.
Batch differences: Fluctuations in process parameters may affect the uniformity of nanoparticles and require standardized operating procedures.