Direct digital manufacturing of autonomous centrifugal microfluidic device

Abstract

This paper presents strategies that attempt to solve two key problems facing the commercialization of microfluidics: cost reduction in microfluidic chip manufacturing and microfluidic device driver development. To reduce the cost of microfluidic chip manufacturing, we propose to use of three-dimensional (3D) printers for direct digital manufacturing (DDM). An evaluation of 3D micro-scale structure printing using several 3D printers is reported, and some of the technical issues to be addressed in the future are suggested. To evaluate micro-scale printing, three types of 3D printers, with the ability to print structures on the scale of several hundred meters, were selected by first screening six 3D printers. Line and space patterns with line widths of 100–500 µm and an aspect ratio of one were printed and evaluated. The estimated critical dimension was around 200 µm. The manufacturing of a monolithic microfluidic chip with embedded channels was also demonstrated. Monolithic microfluidic chips with embedded microchannels having 500 × 500 and 250 × 250 µm2 cross sections and 2–20 mm lengths were printed, and the fidelity of the channel shape, residual supporting material, and flow of liquid water were evaluated. The liquid flow evaluation showed that liquid water could flow through all of the microchannels with the 500 × 500 µm2 cross section, whereas this was not possible through some of the channels with the 250 × 250 µm2 cross section because of the residual resin or supporting material. To reduce the device-driver cost, we propose to use of the centrifugal microfluidic concept. An autonomous microfluidic device that could implement sequential flow control under a steadily rotating condition was printed. Four-step flow injection under a steadily rotating condition at 1500 rpm was successfully demonstrated without any external triggering such as changing the rotational speed.