This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No. 103130587, filed on Sep. 4, 2014.
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a biochip and a method of making the same, more particularly to a biochip including a polymer layer molded on a substrate and a method of making the same.
Referring to
The openings 110 in the polymer film 11 are formed using imprinting or casting techniques. The surface treatment of the substrate 12 in step (d) is conducted by coating thereon a material, such as poly(styrene-co-maleic-anhydride) (PSMA), Au, or Ni, so as to improve the adhesion of the probes 14 on the substrate 12. The probes 14 are made from deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA), proteins, or cells.
Since the polymer film 11 is thin and soft, removal of the same from a mold employed in the imprinting techniques and attachment of the same to the substrate 12 are required to be carried out manually, which is rather difficult and tedious and which tends to result in deformation and/or damage to the polymer film 11. If a thick polymer film is used, it is unfavorable to achieve the goal of miniaturization in the size of the biochip.
Certain embodiments of the disclosure provide methods of making a biochip that may alleviate at least one of the drawbacks, and/or biochips having a polymer layer.
In certain embodiments of the disclosure, a method of making a biochip may be provided. Such a method may include: providing a mold including first and second mold halves, the first mold half being formed with an accommodating groove, the second mold half being provided with a patterning member facing toward the accommodating groove; securing a substrate in the accommodating groove; disposing a polymer material on the substrate; patterning the polymer material through the patterning member in the mold; and curing the polymer material so as to form a patterned polymer layer on the substrate.
The patterned polymer layer may be formed with at least one recess having a pattern that corresponds to that of the patterning member and that is adapted to receive a biological analytes.
In certain embodiments of the disclosure, a biochip may be provided. Such a biochip may include a substrate and a patterned polymer layer molded over the substrate and formed with at least one recess that is adapted to receive a biological analytes.
The patterned polymer layer may be bonded to the substrate through molding techniques and have structural characteristics indicative of the patterned polymer layer being formed by molding techniques.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
It may be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.
In step S1 (see
In step S2 (see
In step S3 (see
In step S4 (see
In step S5 (see
In step S6 (see
In step S7, the polymer material 302 is cured (or cross-linked) in the mold 2 so as to form a patterned polymer layer 32 on the substrate 31. The patterned polymer layer 32 thus formed has at least one recess 322 (see
In step S8 (see
In step S9 (see
Since the patterned polymer layer 32 is molded over the substrate 31 and is bonded to the substrate 31 through molding techniques, the patterned polymer layer 32 has structural characteristics indicative of the patterned polymer layer 32 being formed by molding techniques.
In certain embodiments, the substrate 31 may be made from metal, ceramics, glass, quartz, or polymer.
In certain embodiments, the polymer material 302 may be solid or in the form of a gel. In such embodiments, the polymer material 302 may be made from polysiloxane or silicone resins. The silicone resin may be a liquid silicone resin (LSR) or a solid silicone resin. In certain embodiments, the polymer material 302 may be self-adhesive solid silicone resin, so that a surface treatment, such as plasma treatment, to the substrate 31 may be omitted. In certain embodiments, the polymer material 302 may be an elastomer.
In certain embodiments, the polymer material 302 may be thermally curable or light curable. When the polymer material 302 is light curable, at least one of the first and the second mold halves 21, 22 may be transparent for passage of light therethrough into the mold 2 for curing the polymer material 302. When the first mold half 21 is transparent, the substrate 31 should also be transparent for passing light from the first mold half 21 to the polymer material 302.
The first mold half 21 may include an overflow-receiving groove (not shown) that surrounds and that is not in fluid communication with the accommodating groove 211, and that is adapted to receive an overflow of the polymer material 302 injected into the mold 2.
Referring to
In certain embodiments, the polymer material 302 is a thermally curable material, and the method may further include a step of heating the mold 2 to a predetermined temperature to thermally cure the polymer material 302 in the mold 2. In certain embodiments, the predetermined temperature may range from 100° C. to 150° C.
It is noted that the predetermined temperature set for curing the polymer material 302 is sufficient to accelerate the curing of the polymer material 302, but should not cause undesired deformation of the substrate 31.
In certain embodiments, the method may further include a step of applying an external force (F) (see
In certain embodiments, the polymer material 302 may be a self-adhesive solid silicone resin and the patterning and curing of the polymer material 302 in the mold 2 is carried out using hot press techniques.
In certain embodiments, the patterned polymer layer 32 may be covered with and bonded to the sealing layer 33 using a glue or an adhesive material which is applied to a surface of the patterned polymer layer 32 that is opposite to the substrate 31. Alternatively, the surface of the patterned polymer layer 32 maybe subjected to plasma treatment for bonding with the sealing layer 33.
In this embodiment, the first and the second mold halves 21, 22 are assembled together before the disposing of the polymer material 302 on the substrate through injection molding techniques. In certain embodiments, the second mold half 22 is heated to a predetermined temperature using a heater 4 before injection of the polymer material 302 into the mold 2 for subsequent patterning and curing (or cross-linking) of the polymer material 302.
The polymer material 302 maybe cooled after being injected into the mold 2 and subjected to crosslinking reaction. The assembly of the polymer material 302 and the substrate 32 is subsequently removed from the mold 2. The polymer material 302 employed in this embodiment may be self-adhesive liquid silicone resin which has a good flowability to flow through a runner system (not shown) in the mold 2 and to fill the pattern-forming recess 2212 in the patterning member 221 when being injected into the mold 2.
In summary, the method of making the biochip of the present disclosure may be advantageous over the prior art for achieving miniaturization purposes without causing deformation or damage to the polymer film as encountered in the prior art.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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103130587 | Sep 2014 | TW | national |