Fabrication of a Nonplanar Microfluidics by Using Sonication-Assisted Dissolution Technique

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop a novel fabrication process for creating 3D and nonplanar microfluidic device as well as to study the factors which would influence the quality of the microfluidic devices. A three-dimensional thermoplastic mold was created by 3D printing technique and the mold material used herein is Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). After the three-dimensional mold was realized, Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) casting was used to manufacture a three-dimensional PDMS microfluidic device in which the transparent microchannel are embedded inside the microfluidic device. Then the ABS mold was dissolved with Acetone solutions. The major challenge of this fabrication process is how to completely remove the ABS left inside the microchannels after PDMS casting. Two factors were studied, including how sonication efficiently removes the ABS in the casted PDMS microchannels and the influence of the inlet/outlet numbers to the removal efficiency of ABS. The experiment results clearly demonstrated that: (1) the aid of sonication process efficiently help dissolve the ABS inside the embedded microchannels; and (2) more inlets/outlets of the mold could significantly accelerate the dissolution process.