Microfluidic dialysis using photo-patterned hydrogel membranes in PDMS chips.

We report the fabrication of permeable membranes for microfluidic dialysis applications in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) channels. A maskless UV projection device was used to photo-pattern long hydrogel membranes (mm-cm) with a spatial resolution of a few microns in PDMS chips integrating also micro-valves. We show in particular that multi-layer soft lithography allows one to deplete oxygen from the PDMS walls using a nitrogen gas flow and therefore makes possible in situ UV-induced polymerization of hydrogels.