Plasma-polymerized coatings for bio-MEMS applications

Coatings that provide either hydrophobic, hydrophilic, cell adhesive or cell non-adhesive functionalities have been deposited using three-phase low energy plasma-polymerization. The cell adhesive/non-adhesive coatings were tested using E. coli k-12. The four plasma-polymerized coatings are: para-xylene (PX), 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone (VP), polyvinyldifluoride (PVDF) and phosphorous glass (SiPOC), respectively. In addition, micropatterning of PX and VP has been performed on the same silicon substrate. Feature sizes down to 2 mum and precise alignment were obtained using lift-off and cleanroom photolithography techniques. The patterning process used did not influence the wetability of the coatings. The simplicity of the lift-off technique and the sturdiness and versatility of the plasma-polymerized coatings, make this ideal for MEMS, bio-MEMS and microfluidic applications, where patterned surfaces with different functionalities are required on for instance the same microchip. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.