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Innovative 3D Microfluidic Tools for On-Chip Fluids and Particles Manipulation: From Design to Experimental Validation

Micromixers are essential components in lab-on-a-chip devices, of which the low efficiency can limit many bio-application studies. Effective mixing with automation capabilities is still a crucial requirement. In this paper, we present a method to fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) poly(methyl methac...

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Autores principales: Zoupanou, Sofia, Chiriacò, Maria Serena, Tarantini, Iolena, Ferrara, Francesco
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7912382/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33494413
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12020104
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author Zoupanou, Sofia
Chiriacò, Maria Serena
Tarantini, Iolena
Ferrara, Francesco
author_facet Zoupanou, Sofia
Chiriacò, Maria Serena
Tarantini, Iolena
Ferrara, Francesco
author_sort Zoupanou, Sofia
collection PubMed
description Micromixers are essential components in lab-on-a-chip devices, of which the low efficiency can limit many bio-application studies. Effective mixing with automation capabilities is still a crucial requirement. In this paper, we present a method to fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) fluidic mixer by combining computer-aided design (CAD), micromilling technology, and experimental application via manipulating fluids and nanoparticles. The entire platform consists of three microfabricated layers with a bottom reservoir-shaped microchannel, a central serpentine channel, and a through-hole for interconnection and an upper layer containing inlets and outlet. The sealing process of the three layers and the high-precision and customizable methods used for fabrication ensure the realization of the monolithic 3D architecture. This provides buried running channels able to perform passive chaotic mixing and dilution functions, thanks to a portion of the pathway in common between the reservoir and serpentine layers. The possibility to plug-and-play micropumping systems allows us to easily demonstrate the feasibility and working features of our device for tracking the mixing and dilution performances of the micromixer by using colored fluids and fluorescent nanoparticles as the proof of concept. Exploiting the good transparency of the PMMA, spatial liquid composition and better control over reaction variables are possible, and the real-time monitoring of experiments under a fluorescence microscope is also allowed. The tools shown in this paper are easily integrable in more complex lab-on-chip platforms.
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spelling pubmed-79123822021-02-28 Innovative 3D Microfluidic Tools for On-Chip Fluids and Particles Manipulation: From Design to Experimental Validation Zoupanou, Sofia Chiriacò, Maria Serena Tarantini, Iolena Ferrara, Francesco Micromachines (Basel) Article Micromixers are essential components in lab-on-a-chip devices, of which the low efficiency can limit many bio-application studies. Effective mixing with automation capabilities is still a crucial requirement. In this paper, we present a method to fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) fluidic mixer by combining computer-aided design (CAD), micromilling technology, and experimental application via manipulating fluids and nanoparticles. The entire platform consists of three microfabricated layers with a bottom reservoir-shaped microchannel, a central serpentine channel, and a through-hole for interconnection and an upper layer containing inlets and outlet. The sealing process of the three layers and the high-precision and customizable methods used for fabrication ensure the realization of the monolithic 3D architecture. This provides buried running channels able to perform passive chaotic mixing and dilution functions, thanks to a portion of the pathway in common between the reservoir and serpentine layers. The possibility to plug-and-play micropumping systems allows us to easily demonstrate the feasibility and working features of our device for tracking the mixing and dilution performances of the micromixer by using colored fluids and fluorescent nanoparticles as the proof of concept. Exploiting the good transparency of the PMMA, spatial liquid composition and better control over reaction variables are possible, and the real-time monitoring of experiments under a fluorescence microscope is also allowed. The tools shown in this paper are easily integrable in more complex lab-on-chip platforms. MDPI 2021-01-21 /pmc/articles/PMC7912382/ /pubmed/33494413 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12020104 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Zoupanou, Sofia
Chiriacò, Maria Serena
Tarantini, Iolena
Ferrara, Francesco
Innovative 3D Microfluidic Tools for On-Chip Fluids and Particles Manipulation: From Design to Experimental Validation
title Innovative 3D Microfluidic Tools for On-Chip Fluids and Particles Manipulation: From Design to Experimental Validation
title_full Innovative 3D Microfluidic Tools for On-Chip Fluids and Particles Manipulation: From Design to Experimental Validation
title_fullStr Innovative 3D Microfluidic Tools for On-Chip Fluids and Particles Manipulation: From Design to Experimental Validation
title_full_unstemmed Innovative 3D Microfluidic Tools for On-Chip Fluids and Particles Manipulation: From Design to Experimental Validation
title_short Innovative 3D Microfluidic Tools for On-Chip Fluids and Particles Manipulation: From Design to Experimental Validation
title_sort innovative 3d microfluidic tools for on-chip fluids and particles manipulation: from design to experimental validation
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7912382/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33494413
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12020104
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