PDMS plasma bonding
The pdms surface can be chemically activated by exposing it to an oxygen plasma. This activation will allow bonding of the pdms to a glass coverslip or to another piece of pdms to seal off the channel.
From page 2 of this paper: From the Carolina Workshop on Force Measurement and Manipulation in Biological Microscopy
Sealing the Channel with a Glass Coverslip
If necessary, clean two coverslips and the PDMS channel with isopropanol, rinse with deionized water, and dry with a stream of nitrogen. Keep them free from oils and dust. The PDMS surface can be chemically activated by exposing it to an oxygen plasma. This activation will allow us to bond the PDMS to a glass coverslip or to another piece of PDMS to seal off the channel. Place PDMS
channel-side-up on one cover slip, and lay this and a second cover slip in the plasma cleaner. Run the cleaner at medium power (40 Watts) for ~25 seconds. Remove them from the cleaner and immediately place the second cover slip on the channel side
Plasma Treatment System–quartz chamber AutoGlow
For information and a video on the AutoGlow plasma system click HERE.
