Fabrication of Plastic Microfluid Channels by Imprinting Methods

Abstract

Microfluidic devices have been fabricated on poly(methyl methacrylate) substrates by two independent imprinting techniques. First-generation devices were fabricated using a small-diameter wire to create an impression in plastics softened by low-temperature heating. The resulting devices are limited to only simple linear channel designs but are readily produced at low cost. Second-generation devices with more complex microchannel arrangements were fabricated by imprinting the plastic substrates using an inverse three-dimensional image of the device micromachined on a silicon wafer. This micromachined template may be used repeatedly to generate devices reproducibly. Fluorescent analtyes were used to demonstrate reproducible electrophoretic injections. An immunoassay was also performed in an imprinted device as a demonstration of future applications.

Modification of a poly(methyl methacrylate) injection-molded microchip and its use for high performance analysis of DNA

“…Initially, the silicon template was fabricated by a previously described method [4]. Briefly, the schematic of the channels was first drawn using a standard CAD software package.…”

“…Furthermore, there are many possible fabrication methods. A number of polymeric materials have been used to create microfluidic devices, such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) [4], polycarbonate [5], SU-8 photoresist [6], Zeonor 1020 [7], and the elastic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) [8,9]. Polymeric substrates have been patterned using laser ablation [3], X-ray lithography [10], injection molding [11], and imprinting from master templates [12].…”

Surface modification in microchip electrophoresis

“…There are, however, some manufacturing issues associated with glass microchips, which makes the use of alternative materials like different polymers attractive [28]. An advantage of polymer-based microfluidic chips is the wide choice in microfabrication techniques like injection molding [29], laser ablation [30], imprinting [31], or hot embossing [32]. For such microfluidic devices inexpensive mass production is possible which makes them attractive as disposable devices for commercial applications.…”

A polymeric master replication technology for mass fabrication of poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic devices

“…Commercially available PMMA sheets were used as replica master material since they can be easily structured against a silicon template by thermal imprinting [28]. In addition, the hard and slick physical property of PMMA at , 1007C makes it suitable for low-temperature casting of PDMS.…”