Printing silicone-based hydrophobic barriers on paper for microfluidic assays using low-cost ink jet printers

Paper-based microfluidic devices exhibit many advantages for biological assays. Normally, the assays are restricted to certain areas of the paper by hydrophobic barriers comprised of wax or alkyl ketene dimers (AKD). Neither hydrophobic barrier is able to constrain aqueous solutions of surfactants, which are frequently used in biological assays. We demonstrate that rapidly curing silicone resins can be inkjet printed onto pure cellulose paper …