Functionalization of poly(dimethylsiloxane) by chemisorption of copolymers: DNA microarrays for pathogen detection

A robust method for coating polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) allowing covalent binding of biomolecules is reported. The coating is based on adsorption of a copolymer, copoly(DMA-NAS-MAPS), bearing functional groups. The polymer is synthesized by free radical polymerization; it self-adsorbs onto the PDMS very rapidly, typically in 30 min, even without any PDMS surface pre-treatment. PDMS slides coated by copoly(DMA-NAS-MAPS) covalently bind amino-modified DNA fragments and have been tested in bacterial genotyping experiments. The usefulness of this functional coating on PDMS structures in lab-on-chip devices powered by microfluidics has been demonstrated. The copoly(DMA-NAS-MAPS) coated PDMS slides were used as flexible components of a microcell in semi-automated DNA microarray experiments for rapid food pathogen identification.