Patent ID: 7727710

Claim:
A method of reducing non-specific binding of target molecules to a surface, the method comprising: providing a sample comprising target molecules; providing a solid phase material comprising a surface that comprises a hydrophobic portion and capture sites, wherein the capture sites are either covalently attached or hydrophobically attached to the solid phase material; providing a fluorinated nonionic surfactant; contacting the solid phase material with the fluorinated nonionic surfactant to block at least a portion of the hydrophobic portion of the solid phase material surface thereby creating a blocked solid phase material; contacting the blocked solid phase material with the sample so that at least a portion of the target molecules adheres to the capture sites thereby creating adhered target molecules; and optionally removing at least a portion of the adhered target molecules from the blocked solid phase material, wherein non-specific binding of target molecules to the surface is decreased relative to non-specific binding to the surface without contacting the solid phase material with the fluorinated nonionic surfactant, wherein the fluorinated nonionic surfactant includes at least one unit of the following formula (II): wherein: the rectangular box represents a bond in a polymerizable or polymer chain; R, R 1 , and R 2 are each independently hydrogen or a C1-C4 alkyl group; n is an integer of 2 to 10; R 3 is a straight or branched alkylene-oxy group, linked together and having 2-6 carbon atoms, or a straight or branched alkylene group having 12-20 carbon atoms; and x, y, and z are each independently at least 1.