| Abstract: | This letter presents a smart integrated microfluidic device which can be applied to actively immobilize proteins on demand. The active component in the device is a temperature‐controllable microelectrode array with a smart polymer film, poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) which can be thermally switched between hydrophilic and hydrophobic states. It is integrated into a micro hot diaphragm having an integrated micro heater and temperature sensors on a 2‐micrometer‐thick silicon oxide/silicon nitride/silicon oxide (O/N/O) template. Only 36 mW is required to heat the large template area of 2 mm×16 mm to 40°C within 1 second. To relay the stimulus‐response activity to the microelectrode surface, the interface is modified with a smart polymer. For a model biomolecular affinity test, an anti‐6‐(2, 4‐dinitrophenyl) aminohexanoic acid (DNP) antibody protein immobilization on the microelectrodes is demonstrated by fluorescence patterns. |
