For both glass and PDMS, I wash thoroughly with ethanol and water, and treat with oxygen plasma, yet they still detach after 1-6 weeks.
I tried peeling the detached PDMS, cleaning, and retreating with oxygen plasma, and then re-attached it to the glass. I checked under microscope for damage to the channels, and found none.
Although I realize that peeling the permanently bonded device could cause unforeseen damage to the channels, It saves time and money for my lab.
Is it wrong to reuse PDMS devices this way? are we allowed to peel the permanently bonded device and then reattach?
Yang Liu
, thank you, that's a good point. so far It has lasted a week with no leaking, ill keep track and see if it detaches faster.it would not make our lab poor but we use 100g of PDMS per device. reordering once the supply is empty and curing the pdms can be a hassle and waste a day or two at times. So I'd rather reuse if possible..
@ Rami Barakat : The channel bonding procedure using plasma treatment require hydrophilic silanol groups and smooth surface (similar to that mentioned by @ Yang Liu).
Both of these properties, if regenerated somehow through silanization of PDMS and glass, reuse of devices may be attempted.
Another alternative may e of interest to you (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5070136)
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