Low gas permeable and non-absorbent rubbery OSTE+ for pneumatic microvalves

In this paper we introduce a new polymer for use in microfluidic applications, based on the off-stoichiometric thiol-ene-epoxy (OSTE+) polymer system, but with rubbery properties. We characterize and benchmark the new polymer against PDMS. We demonstrate that Rubbery OSTE+: has more than 90% lower permeability to gases compared to PDMS, has little to no absorption of dissolved molecules, can be layer bonded in room temperature without the need for adhesives or plasma treatment, can be structured by standard micro-molding manufacturing, and shows similar performance as PDMS for pneumatic microvalves, albeit allowing handling of larger pressure.