Fig. 3: Antifouling strategies in microfluidic systems.

a Disposable glass-coverslip lubricant coatings on endoscopes: mounting with PDMS; performance of 350 cSt and 500 cSt silicone-oil coatings vs uncoated (red), noting transient aberrations from droplet pinning/detachment. Adapted from ref. ⁷⁰. Copyright (2016) National Academy of Sciences. b Magnetic artificial cilia (MAC): (i) SEM side view (Ø50 μm, h = 350 μm, pitch = 250 μm); (ii) Bright-field after 28 days actuation, showing reduced algae fouling; (iii) Antifouling over time for partial MAC coverage. Adapted from ref. ⁷³ under CC BY license. c Protein-fouling mitigation in PDMS chips: (i) Protein in effluent after 20 mg/mL BSA, 10 min, 1 mL/min; (ii) Total uptake after cleaning (10 mL); (iii) Six cleaning cycles comparing untreated vs PLL-g-PEG-treated; (iv) Cumulative uptake with/without pretreatment and trypsin post-treatment. Adapted from ref. ⁷⁴ with permission. d (i) Two-step mechanochemical activation and grafting render PDMS antibiofouling; (ii) demonstration on a toilet bowl. Adapted from ref. ⁷² with permission.