Question

Is Teflon radiodense or radiopaque? Can a CT scan penetrate a thin layer of Teflon?

Answer 1

We present Teflon-based microfluidic chips fabricated by laminating multiple layers of laser-cut Teflon film. In addition to being solvent-resistant, these chips enable simple multilayer fabrication, have uniform rectangular cross-section and are sufficiently thin to (1) reduce cost, (2) enable rapid temperature control, and (3) provide optical transparency. The chips can be fabricated without a cleanroom from start to finish in less than 2 h. We demonstrate the potential of this approach by measuring the displacement of an oil solution by carbon dioxide in a nine-layer thin-film Teflon chip modelling porous media. Optical transparency through the 9-layers enables the determination of an oil recovery rate. We also demonstrate a thin-film chip measurement of the viscosity of heavy oil/toluene mixtures.

Thin film is a versatile, unsupported hydrophobic membrane with broad chemical compatibility. It is compatible with various sterilizing methods (to 500 deg F, or 234 deg C). For these reasons it is extensively used as a barrier film in many applications.

Thin film is widely used in the wire and cable industry as wrap because of its extraordinary insulating ability.

The development of hybrid devices that involve interfacing biological tissue with microelectronic structures, e.g. cell-based biosensors, is a growing trend. The ability to spatially control and direct tissue deposition/cell adhesion with micron resolution is indeed a desirable and useful feature in biolectronic technology development. The low surface energy of teflon-based materials has been used in various studies to design biomaterial surfaces that can spatially direct cell attachment and outgrowth. In these studies, selective modification and subsequent incorporation of cell adhesive molecules on certain regions of the surface achieved selective or directed cell attachment (Ranieri et al., 1993 and Ranieri et al., 1994;Cl