Fabrication of a Polydimethylsiloxane Fluidic Chip Using a Sacrificial Template Made by Fused Deposition Modeling 3D Printing and Application for Flow-injection Analysis

Abstract

Fluidic chip fabrication technologies using three-dimensional (3D) printing have received broad attention recently. Herein, we describe a new method for fabricating polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fluidic chips using a 3D-printed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) template and polymer coating. In this method, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was coated on the 3D-printed template. This coated template was immersed in liquid PDMS, and subsequently the PDMS was cured. Space can be created between the template and PDMS by removing this liquid PEG from the channel. This space renders template removal easier. A flow path is formed by dissolving the template with a solvent. These PDMS chips are used for flow injection measurement.

Fabrication of microfluidic chips using controlled dissolution of3Dprinted scaffolds

“…The time required to remove the scaffold from PDMS could be decreased by coating the dissoluted scaffold with another material, such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), which when dissolved by heat and removed, creates a space between the scaffold and PDMS, rendering scaffold dissolution easier. [ 27 ] However, it should be noted that adding a suitable coating material, such as PEG, cannot be currently conducted evenly, which results in irreproducible coating layer thicknesses. [ 27 ] Additionally, although Rašljić et al are the only authors to date who attempted to use acetone to dissolve ABS prior to PDMS curing, their main goal was to achieve a smoother ABS surface.…”

“…[ 27 ] However, it should be noted that adding a suitable coating material, such as PEG, cannot be currently conducted evenly, which results in irreproducible coating layer thicknesses. [ 27 ] Additionally, although Rašljić et al are the only authors to date who attempted to use acetone to dissolve ABS prior to PDMS curing, their main goal was to achieve a smoother ABS surface. [ 26 ] Our method aims at decreasing ABS channel dimensions as well as smoothing the final ABS surface before PDMS curing, both of which are achieved by adding the secondary dissolution step to eISR.…”

“…The PDMS is cured and the scaffold is dissolved using the appropriate solvent, leaving hollow channels in the PDMS structure. Water‐soluble sugars, [ 20 ] poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), [ 21,22 ] and the thermoplastic acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) [ 23–27 ] were previously used as the 3D printing materials for the scaffolds comprising microfluidic channels. In addition, Kang et al used several materials and studied the effects of six solvents on the final PDMS structure, with acetone and methanol having the least effect on PDMS swelling and cracking.…”

Flow-based System: A Highly Efficient Tool Speeds Up Data Production and Improves Analytical Performance

“…The group of Mattio 159 demonstrated a 3D-printed flow system for the determination of lead in natural water samples. Yamashita et al 160 demonstrated the use of the 3D printing technique for the fabrication of a FIA manifold for phosphate determination in water. Lastly, Ceballos et al 161 exhibited the use of a 3D printed device for uranium(VI) extraction using flow-through magnetic-stirring assisted system.…”

3D-Printed Microfluidic Nanoelectrospray Ionization Source Based on Hydrodynamic Focusing

“…21,22 Alternatively, three-dimensional (3D) printing has shown potentials to ease hurdles in preparing nESI emitters. Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is the most widely used 3D printing methods, 23,24 and it constructs 3D spatial objects by deposing melted polymers in pre-specified layers. 25,26 It has been used to prepare different analytical devices, 27,28 including cartridges for paper-based electrospray ionization, 25,29,30 the ion mobility spectrometer, 31,32 the ion funnel, 33 the spray chamber for inductively coupled plasma spectrometry, 34 and other interfaces.…”