Ultraviolet-ozone surface cleaning of injection-molded, thermoplastic microcantilevers

Ultraviolet-ozone (UVO) is used for the cleaning of labware from organic contamination and includes sterilization, surface roughening, and activation. A range of polymers has been treated without major effects on surface topography and surface chemistry. Even for those, which are subject to physical and chemical aging, a trade-off between damages and surface cleaning was often found. This communication presents a comprehensive overview on how to UVO-treat selected polymers known from applications in biology and medicine, in particular microcantilevers used for biosensing. The study provides well-defined thresholds below which degradation and surface damages are avoided. The impact of UVO treatments on the surface and bulk properties of the injection-molded polymers was examined by means of differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41922.