Research progress on sterilization technology of polymer microfluidic chip

Abstract:

Polymer microfluidic chips have a wide range of application in medicine, biological detection, chemical synthesis and other fields because of its low cost and easy fabrication. Polymer materials based on thermoplastic polymer polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and thermosetting polymer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), with good biological compatibility and optical transparency, are commonly used as the base material for the preparation of microfluidic chips in biomedicine. However, in view of the particular application scenarios, this kind of chips need to be sterilized prior to use to avoid microbial interference. The available sterilization methods for PMMA and PDMS based materials include autoclaving, ultraviolet, electron beam, ⁶⁰Co gamma radiation, supercritical carbon dioxide sterilization, ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, ethylene oxide, chlorogenic acid and detergent. This paper reviews and summarizes the related operation methods for the PMMA and PDMS based microfluidic chips from basic principle, sterilization methods, and application scenarios. Meanwhile, we analyze the applicable sterilization methods according to chip material and application, aiming to provide reference for the sterilization of microfluidic chips in biomedicine.