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Basic Guide to Multilayer Microfluidic Fabrication with Polyimide Tape and Diode Laser

For normal operations, microfluidic devices typically require an external source of pressure to deliver fluid flow through the microchannel. This requirement limits their use for benchtop research activities in a controlled static environment. To exploit the full potential of the miniaturization and...

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Autores principales: Thaweeskulchai, Thana, Schulte, Albert
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9959566/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36838024
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi14020324
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author Thaweeskulchai, Thana
Schulte, Albert
author_facet Thaweeskulchai, Thana
Schulte, Albert
author_sort Thaweeskulchai, Thana
collection PubMed
description For normal operations, microfluidic devices typically require an external source of pressure to deliver fluid flow through the microchannel. This requirement limits their use for benchtop research activities in a controlled static environment. To exploit the full potential of the miniaturization and portability of microfluidic platforms, passively driven capillary microfluidic devices have been developed to completely remove the need for an external pressure source. Capillary microfluidics can be designed to perform complex tasks by designing individual components of the device. These components, such as the stop valve and trigger valve, operate through changes in microchannel dimensions and aspect ratios. A direct, maskless fabrication protocol that allows the precise fabrication of microchannels and other microfluidic components is introduced here. A diode laser and polyimide tape on a PMMA substrate are the only components needed to start fabrication. By varying the laser power used and the number of laser repetitions, various depths and widths of the microchannel can be quickly created to meet specific needs. As an example of a functional unit, a trigger valve was fabricated and tested, as proof of the validity of the fabrication protocol.
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spelling pubmed-99595662023-02-26 Basic Guide to Multilayer Microfluidic Fabrication with Polyimide Tape and Diode Laser Thaweeskulchai, Thana Schulte, Albert Micromachines (Basel) Article For normal operations, microfluidic devices typically require an external source of pressure to deliver fluid flow through the microchannel. This requirement limits their use for benchtop research activities in a controlled static environment. To exploit the full potential of the miniaturization and portability of microfluidic platforms, passively driven capillary microfluidic devices have been developed to completely remove the need for an external pressure source. Capillary microfluidics can be designed to perform complex tasks by designing individual components of the device. These components, such as the stop valve and trigger valve, operate through changes in microchannel dimensions and aspect ratios. A direct, maskless fabrication protocol that allows the precise fabrication of microchannels and other microfluidic components is introduced here. A diode laser and polyimide tape on a PMMA substrate are the only components needed to start fabrication. By varying the laser power used and the number of laser repetitions, various depths and widths of the microchannel can be quickly created to meet specific needs. As an example of a functional unit, a trigger valve was fabricated and tested, as proof of the validity of the fabrication protocol. MDPI 2023-01-27 /pmc/articles/PMC9959566/ /pubmed/36838024 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi14020324 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Thaweeskulchai, Thana
Schulte, Albert
Basic Guide to Multilayer Microfluidic Fabrication with Polyimide Tape and Diode Laser
title Basic Guide to Multilayer Microfluidic Fabrication with Polyimide Tape and Diode Laser
title_full Basic Guide to Multilayer Microfluidic Fabrication with Polyimide Tape and Diode Laser
title_fullStr Basic Guide to Multilayer Microfluidic Fabrication with Polyimide Tape and Diode Laser
title_full_unstemmed Basic Guide to Multilayer Microfluidic Fabrication with Polyimide Tape and Diode Laser
title_short Basic Guide to Multilayer Microfluidic Fabrication with Polyimide Tape and Diode Laser
title_sort basic guide to multilayer microfluidic fabrication with polyimide tape and diode laser
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9959566/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36838024
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi14020324
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