Microfabricated filters for microfluidic analytical systems.

Solvent and reagent filters were micromachined into quartz wafers using deep reactive ion etching to create a network of intersecting 1.5 x 10 microns channels. When placed at the bottom of reservoirs with a side exit, this channel network behaved as a lateral percolation filter composed of an array of cubelike structures one layer deep. Flow through these filters was driven by electroosmotic flow (EOF). Silanol groups at the walls of channels in the network provided the requisite charge to trigger EOF when voltage was applied laterally to the filter. Adsorption of cationic proteins in this silanol-rich matrix was controlled by the application of a polyacrylamide coating prepared by bonding N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS)-activated poly(acrylic acid) to (gamma-aminopropyl)silane-derivatized filters. Subsequent reaction of residual NHS groups in the coating with 2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol provided channels of low charge density and adsorptivity. These lateral percolation filters were shown to be efficacious in filtering solvents containing a variety of particulate materials, ranging from dust to cells.