Fabrication of non-biofouling polyethylene glycol micro- and nanochannels by ultraviolet-assisted irreversible sealing

We present a simple and widely applicable method to fabricate micro- and nanochannels comprised entirely of crosslinked polyethylene glycol (PEG) by using UV-assisted irreversible sealing to bond partially crosslinked PEG surfaces. The method developed here can be used to form channels as small as approximately 50 nm in diameter without using a sophisticated experimental setup. The manufactured channel is a homogeneous conduit made completely from non-biofouling PEG, exhibits robust sealing with minimal swelling and can be used without additional surface modification chemistries, thus significantly enhancing reliability and durability of microfluidic devices. Furthermore, we demonstrate simple analytical assays using PEG microchannels combined with patterned arrays of supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) to detect ligand (biotin)-receptor (streptavidin) interactions.