Fabrication and application of iron-oxide nanoparticle/PDMS cone in lab on a chip

This paper presents the fabrication and application of an iron-oxide nanoparticle/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) cone as a component integrated in lab on a chip. The two main functions of this component are to capture magnetic microbeads in the microfluid and to mix two laminar fluids by generating asymmetric turbulence. The iron-oxide nanoparticle/PDMS cone is fabricated by a simple method without using any mold. The uncured iron-oxide nanoparticle/PDMS is dropped on the chip by an automatic dispenser and forms the cone shape by applying the magnetic field above the top of the drop. Finally, the cone is cured at 70°C in the microchannel of the chip.