Living radical photopolymerizations to modify surfaces in microfluidic devices for biological applications

摘要

Surface modification of polymeric materials utilizing living radical photopolymerization (LRPP) is a robust method for controlling a number of chemical and biological surface interactions for microfluidic devices, tissue engineering scaffolds, and other biomaterials. LRPP exploits surface attached initiator molecules, called photoiniferters, to initiate growth of controlled polymer chains from a substrate (1-5). With this method, the surface graft can be customized to achieve the appropriate surface properties. Applications requiring controlled call adhesion, hydrophobic/hydrophilic interactions, protein attachment, drug delivery, sensory responses, or surface fluorescence, among others, can benefit from this chemistry.