Fabrication of Hollow Polymer Microchannels Using the MIMIC Technique with Subsequent Heat Treatment

Fabrication of Multiple Parallel Microchannels in a Single Microgroove via the Heating Assisted MIMIC Technique

“…Figure 4 demonstrates the relationship between the length of microchannels and the height of 40 μm wide microgrooves in the PDMS mold. Figure 3 and Figure 4 show that the length of microchannels reduced as the microgroove height lowered, which was consistent with the findings of the previous study [ 35 ]. The formation mechanism of the microchannels can be easily understood on a qualitative level.…”

“…The microchannel structure with capsule cross-section can be obtained regardless of whether the microgroove’s cross-section form is semicircular or trapezoidal. By changing the width and height of the microgrooves in the PDMS mold, we were able to efficiently build a microchannel structure with a circular cross-section [ 35 ].…”

“…The isolation wall between the multiple parallel microchannels was the result of gravity effect and surface tension. Elsewhere, the mechanism of microchannel development has been elucidated [ 35 ]. It is worth noting that photolithography is not required for our parallel microchannels fabrication procedure if a suitable master or PDMS guiding mold is obtained.…”

“…Recently, our group developed a new approach called the heating assisted MIMIC technique (HAMIMIC) to fabricate circular cross-section microchannels. This technique combines the MIMIC method with subsequent heat treatment [ 35 ], and demonstrates the ability to create microchannels with various cross-sectional shapes and diameters less than 20 μm. The cross-section and size of microchannels can be controlled by changing the shape and size of the microgrooves in the PDMS mold.…”