Fabrication of molecularly imprinted polymer microstructures

We report the combination of soft lithography and molecular imprinting for the fabrication of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) microstructures on silicon wafers. Proof-of-concept experiments were carried out using 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic (2,4-D) acid as the template molecule. The MIP microstructures were fabricated by employing micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC) and a soft poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) stamp containing 20 mum feature size relief structures. MIP micromonoliths with a cross-sectional dimension of 20 mum×20 mum were isolated and used directly after extraction of the template. The binding characteristics of these imprinted polymer micromonoliths were studied using radioligand binding analysis.