I am working on PDMS material, and I want to bond PDMS to PDMS both are of thickness 200um. I tried bonding them after oxygen plasma, but was not possible.
Please suggest me any ways of bonding them together. Are there any Non conductive epoxys to bond PDMS to PDMS?
Hi,
To get a decent result using O2 plasma bonding process one must go through lot of optimization of plasma power, gas flow rate, gas pressure and annealing process with a relatively large force to bond the two surfaces. Since you have already tried using O2 plasma, would like to suggest a non traditional way.
Assuming you are creating some microchannel/structures on the PDMS and then applying a blank PDMS sheet on to it to create a closed system. I used a quick fix and rubber based adhesives one after another on the surfaces to bond them. It is a highly tedious process but works perfectly fine. Using this approach, i was able to seal a monolithic PDMS structure which was actuated by applying 2 bar hydraulic pressure. It is not full proof, but worked just fine to provide good results for the required application. One critical thing one has to look for is to fill the open channels with some fluid like water/alcohol/oil. This way the bonding adhesive will not enter into those channels/chambers and the final structure will remain clean once the adhesive is dried completely.
Regards
Did you heat it up after plasma treatment? Try 80-100 oC. You can bond either PDMS with PDMS or with glass. I have bonded hundrends of 100 μm membranes with PDMS this way. I mostly used Corona plasma according to this method from the Beebe lab.
1. Cure PDMS 10:1 at above 65oC for more than 5 hours (85 oC > 2 hours)
2. Clean your surface with Scotch tape.
3. Plasma treatment for 1 minute is more than enough
4. Bond surfaces together. (Using an Anti-Static Gun will help)
5. Heat them at above 80oC for a few hours.
Good Luck
Article PDMS Bonding by Means of a Portable, Low-cost Corona System
Make sure both PDMS surfaces are clean enough and coming to the plasma treatment, provide enough vacuum, based on your PDMS size optimize the oxygen plasma power and time. Finally, please take out the PDMS pieces, stick them together with enough pressure for 1-2mins and place the PDMS on a heater for 10-20mins (while placing it on the heater, add some weights on the PDMS for better bonding).
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