Nanoport™ connectors

The microchip design is shown in Figure 6.11 A. It contained two independent microfluidic channels and corresponding parylene electrospray tips. The two channels on the microchip are closer at the tip end with a 1 mm separation, while they are separated by 2 cm at the inlet end. The purpose of this design was to make alignment of parylene tips to the channel exit easier while the Nanoport connectors can still be accommodated at the input. The total length of the channel is 2.5 cm and the depth 20 to 25 pm. The width of the channel at the sprayer end is 20 pm while it is 60 pm at the reservoir end. The purpose for different microchannel widths was due to the need for different requirements from each end. Manual drilling was used to make the reservoir holes after... 

Solutions can be pumped in and out of the chip by using Upchurch Nanoport connectors or by using an EOF when platinum electrodes are sputtered through a shadow mask in the inlet and outlet cavities after bonding.48... 

A solution for these drawbacks was found in using commercially available New Objective Picospray emitters with distal coating, mounted onto the chip with Upchurch Nanoport connectors. To facilitate mounting of the needles and to connect the chip with capillary fibers to the mass spectrometer, a holder was designed as shown in Figure 9.4. The electrical connection to the liquid was realized by using a metal-coated needle, electrically contacted via a gold-plated... 

Upchurch Scientific produce Nanoport , which is a line of assemblies that bond to chip surfaces and provide a fluid connection via PEEK (polyetheretherketone) tubing. Other interconnects such as Luer fittings and connectors for HPLC may also be used. Sandia National Laboratories has also developed a line of interconnects and ferrules specifically for microfluidic devices. 

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