Abstract
In recent years, there has been an increased interest in exploring the potential of micro-and mesoscale milling technologies for developing cost-effective microfluidic systems with high design flexibility and a rapid microfabrication process that does not require a cleanroom. Nevertheless, the number of current studies aiming to fully understand and establish the benefits of this technique in developing high-quality microsystems with simple integrability is still limited. In the first part of this study, we define a systematic and adaptable strategy for developing high-quality poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-based micromilled structures. A case study of the average surface roughness (Ra) minimization of a cuboid column is presented to better illustrate some of the developed strategies. In this example, the Ra of a cuboid column was reduced from 1.68 μm to 0.223 μm by implementing milling optimization and postprocessing steps. In the second part of this paper, new strategies for developing a 3D microsystem were introduced by using a specifically designed negative PMMA master mold for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) double-casting prototyping. The reported results in this study demonstrate the robustness of the proposed approach for developing microfluidic structures with high surface quality and structural integrability in a reasonable amount of time.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
In the second part of this study, we introduced a specific design strategy for developing a 3D PDMS microfluidic system from micromilled poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with negative features, which offers the possibility of circular channel creation and sensor integration
This study focuses on using a simple and cost-effective micromilling system to develop high-quality PMMA microstructures
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Over the past three decades, there has been sustained research activity in developing microfluidic systems [1]. This field is a growing and competitive area of research due to the wide application of miniaturized systems in different fields, including biomedical, pharmaceutical, environmental, and chemical engineering [2,3]. Various microfabrication methods have been suggested to develop microfluidic structures, each having its own relative pros and cons [4,5]
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