Biological functionalization of PMMA changes scale

In R&D conducted under the EU ML2 (MultiLayer MicroLab) project, Leti recently transferred a process to Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute that functionalizes long spools (over 100 meters) of PMMA plastic sheets by grafting biological molecules onto the material. Oxygen plasma treatment is used to modify the plastic’s surface, and then contactless printing is used to graft the biological probes onto the surface. The functionalized zones are uniform in size and shape.
The process is both robust and low cost. Variability from one production run to another is less than 2%. The material deposited is homogeneous. At this stage, the functionalized PMMA will be developed for use detecting toxins in drinking water. The capacity to functionalize plastic rather than glass at an industrial scale will also drive a dramatic reduction in the cost of labs-on-chip.

Contact: guillaume.nonglaton@cea.fr

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