3D printing: It’s microfluidic functions and environmental impacts

Abstract

Innovative micro products essential for the utilization of a wide variety of macro subjects have complicated three-dimensional (3D) microstructures in addition to a high aspect ratio. Till date, many micro manufacturing processes have been developed, but a specific class of such processes is applicable for fabrication of true 3D micro assembly. The aptitude to process a broad range of materials and the ability to fabricate functional and geometrically complicated, 3D microstructures provides the additive manufacturing (AM) processes which significant profits over traditional methods, such as lithography-based or micromachining approaches investigated widely in the past. In this paper, 3D micro-AM processes have been classified into three main groups, including scalable micro-AM systems, 3D direct writing, and hybrid processes, and the key processes have been reviewed comprehensively. Principle and recent progress of each 3D micro-AM process have been described, and the advantages and disadvantages of each process have low-cost along with its occupational health safety & environmental issues.