Molecular Dynamics Simulation on the Effect of Bonding Pressure on Thermal Bonding of Polymer Microfluidic Chip

Thermal bonding technology is the most commonly used approach in bonding injection-molded microfluidic chips. Although the bonding mechanism is still under debate, the molecular dynamics (MD) method can provide insight into the bonding process on a macromolecular level. In this study, MD simulations for thermal bonding of PMMA substrate and cover sheet were performed. The molecule configuration and density distribution during the thermal bonding process were studied. The effects of bonding pressure on the equivalent strain, joining energy and diffusion coefficient were investigated. The debonding process was simulated to analyze the bonding strength and failure mechanism. Simulation results show that penetration mainly takes place near the interface area. Although the final density increases slightly with increasing pressure, the bonding interface is still insufficiently filled. The equivalent strain grows faster than that in the later stage because of the gap at the interface. The bonding pressure shows clear effects on the joining energy, diffusion coefficient and stress–strain behavior. Tensile failure occurs at the interface, with PMMA chains stretched between two layers. The majority of the change in potential energy is correlated with the change in non-bonded energy. At yield strain, the low-density defect at the interface weakens the tensile strength of bonded chip.