Design Techniques for Microfluidic Devices Implementation Applicable to Chemical Analysis Systems

Abstract

This chapter provides a guide for microfluidic devices development and optimization focused on chemical analysis applications, which includes medicine, biology, chemistry, and environmental monitoring, showing high-level performance associated with a specific functionality. Examples are chemical analysis, solid phase extraction, chromatography, immunoassay analysis, protein and DNA separation, cell sorting and manipulation, cellular biology, and mass spectrometry. In this chapter, most information is related to microfluidic devices design and fabrication used to perform several steps concerning chemical analysis, process preparation of reagents, samples reaction and detection, regarding water quality monitoring. These steps are especially relevant to lab-on-chip (LOC) and micro-total-analysis-systems (μTAS). μTAS devices are developed in order to simplify analytical chemist work, incorporating several analytical procedures into flow systems. In the case of miniaturized devices, the analysis time is reduced, and small volumes (nL) can be used.