Anti-fouling solutions applied to a fludic cell

• Main Author: Lim, Joshua Wei Jian.
• Other Authors: Christopher Shearwood
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53448
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the increasing need to understand the world of the micro-organisms, it is imperative to research and develop new equipment and apparatus to better productivity and efficiency when it comes to the cultivation of micro-organisms. An improvement in this aspect would allow for new possibilities in the field of micro-organisms research. A new device was designed to target an improvement in the material exchange that is occurring in a Petri dish. With this new design, there is a need to restrict the growth of the micro-organisms to within the cultivating chambers, and prevent the outward growth into the material exchange channels. A study was therefore conducted with the aim of understanding the characteristics of silver sputtering on the flowing channels, in an attempt to prevent the growth of micro-organisms. The device was first injection moulded. Out of the two mask designs, one was selected and improved to be used for the future masking of the devices. The devices with the mask were put through silver sputtering, and the Hitachi S-3500 Scanning Electron Microscope was used to document the surface conditions of the silver coating. From the results, the coating of silver appeared to be breaking off from the surface under the scan, which proves the possibility of using the selected design to cover the unnecessary area during sputtering. The investigation suggested that the silver coatings are able to adhere onto the surface of the device’s channels. This study needs to be further investigated to get a better understanding on how the silver will aid in the prevention of micro-organisms growing.