Microfluidic Platforms with Micro- and Nanopore Membranes for In-Situ Formation of Lipid Bilayer

This study presents a stable and flexible method for fabricating an integrated microfluidic system with lipid bilayers formed in a free-standing SU-8 membrane. For the fabrication of the SU-8 membranes, a combination of imprint lithography and a sacrificial layer technique was employed in order to obtain a clean, fully released, and mechanically stable membrane with perforated pores. The membrane was then sandwiched between two simple polydimethysiloxane chips with microchannels to produce integrated microfluidic devices. Using the method developed by Suzuki et al. (2004), lipid bilayers were successfully formed at micropore sites in the SU-8 membrane within the microfluidic system.