Facile synthesis of porous monolithic membrane microdevice

• Membrane microdevice was prepared by incorporation of porous monolithic polymer into a microfabricated device.
• The membrane morphology depends on the amount of the cross-linking monomer and the percentage of the porogenic solvents.
• Transport and separation of enantiomers through membrane microdevice.
• Membrane microdevice system is a possible tool for miniaturization of the analytical processes and devices.

Incorporation of membranes into microfabricated devices is a topic of growing interest. Porous monolithic polymers offer the desired characteristics to be used as membrane materials for that purpose. In this work, porous monolithic membranes have been prepared by polymerization through UV irradiation. A mixture of hydroxymethyl methacrylate, 2-aminoethylmethacrylate and ethylene dimethacrylate were used with cyclohexanol and dodecanol, which have the role of porogenic solvents. The membranes have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A monolithic polymer-based membrane with surface area of 1.9 mm2 was successfully incorporated into a microfabricated device. The membrane microdevice was used for incorporation of lipase enzyme and separation of ibuprofen. The membrane microdevice system showed an enantiomeric excess of ca. 40% of (S)-ibuprofen.