Table 1.
Properties of materials used in microfluidic chips.
| Properties | Inorganic Materials | Elastomers | Thermoset | Thermoplastics | Hydrogel | Paper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examples | Silicon/Glass | PDMS | Polyester | Polyethylene, Polystyrene Polycarbonate Polyurethane, Teflon, Cyclic Olefin Co-polymer (COC/COP) |
Hyaluronic Acid, Agarose, PEG-DA, Alginate, PMMA, And Chitosan | - |
| Biological Use | Drug Screening, Assays | Assays, Cell Culture | Capillary | Electrophoresis, DNA Sequencing, PCR | Study Cell-Cell and Cell-Matrix Interaction | Diagnostics |
| Young’s Modulus | 130–180/50–90 | ~0.0005 | 2.0–2.7 | 1.4–4.1 | Low | 0.0003–0.0025 |
| Fabrication Technique | Photolithography | Casting, 3D Printing | Casting/ Photopolymerization |
Thermomoulding | Casting/Photopolymerization | Photolithography, Printing |
| Valving | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Channel Dimension/Profile | <100 nm/3D | <1 µm/3D | <100 nm/Arbitrary 3D | ~100 nm/3D | ~10 µm/3D | ~200 µm/2D |
| Thermostability | Very High | Medium | High | Medium-High | Low | Medium |
| Oxygen Permeability | <0.01 | ~500 | 0.03-1 | 0.05–5 | >1 | >1 |
| Solvent Compatibility | Very High | Low | High | Medium-High | Low | Medium |
| Hydrophobicity | Hydrophobic | Hydrophobic | Hydrophobic | Hydrophobic | Hydrophilic | Amphiphilic |
| Surface Charge | Very Stable | Stable | Stable | Stable | - | - |
| Transparency | No/High | High | High | Medium-High | Low-Medium | Low |
| Cost | High | Low | High | Low | Medium | Low |
| Disadvantage | High Cost, Brittle | Protein Adsorption, Permeability, Autofluorescence | Rigid, Poor Conductivity, Non-Recyclable | Low Melting Point, Brittle | Non-Adherent, Low Mechanical Strength | Porous, Sample Consumption |
| Reference(s) | [121,122] | [123,124] | [125] | [126,127,128] | [129,130] | [131] |
Abbreviations: PEG-DA, Polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate.