Silanization and antibody immobilization on SU-8

Abstract

SU-8, an epoxy based negative photoresist, has emerged as a structural material for microfabricated sensors due to its attractive mechanical properties like low Young's modulus and chemical properties like inertness to various chemicals used in microfabrication. It can be used to fabricate MEMS structures of high aspect ratio. However, the use of SU-8 in BioMEMS application has been limited by the fact that immobilization of biomolecules on SU-8 surfaces has not been reported. In this study, the epoxy groups on the SU-8 surface were hydrolyzed in the presence of sulphochromic solution. Following this, the surface was treated with [3-(2-aminoethyl) aminopropyl]-trimethoxysilane (AEAPS). The silanized SU-8 surface was used to incubate human immunoglobulin (HIgG). The immobilization of HIgG was proved by allowing FITC tagged goat anti-human IgG to react with HIgG. This process of antibody immobilization was used to immobilize HIgG on microfabricated SU-8 cantilevers.