A new approach to immobilize poly(vinyl alcohol) on poly(dimethylsiloxane) resulting in low protein adsorption

The hydrophobic characteristics of PDMS and non-specific protein adsorption are major drawbacks for its application in biosensing. Here we have combined surface oxidation by plasma and chemical binding of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to obtain long-term stability of hydrophilic PDMS surfaces. Mercaptopropyltrimethoxisilane and aminopropyltrimethoxisilane were used as adhesives between the plasma-oxidized PDMS surface and the PVA, immobilized at room temperature. This approach has allowed for fast, uniform, and very stable modification of the PDMS surface, which maintained a hydrophilic character for as long as 30 days. In addition, the modified hydrophilic surface presented minimized protein adsorption when compared to pristine PDMS. The results obtained in this work are important contributions to the growing field of integrated microfluidic biosensors.