Abstract
Microwell arrays are showing great potentials for various optoelectronic and biological applications. However, large-scale fabrication of microwell arrays remains a big challenge to modern micro- and nanotechnology. Here, we report a novel fabrication method that can produce massive aligned microwells in a cost-effective way. With using ionic wind, the hole arrays of pre-fabricated masks can be projected on polymer films and form microwell arrays in a contact-free way, and at high efficiency. Thousands of microwells can be rapidly fabricated in several minutes with their parameters, such as shape, size, and density, being widely tunable, through adjusting the mask’s design and its location in the ionic wind. The fabricated circle and square holes in microwells perfectly replicate the features from the mask, thus being successfully used to trap suspension cells and culture them sustainably till significant cell patterns are formed.
Highlights
Microwells are currently widely applied in optoelectronics field, where they are used as via-hole electrical interconnections,[1] optical lens molds,[2] constrains in electrical material ink jetting,[3] and modulation of optical interface.[4]
Soft lithography method fabricates microwells using another way, in which soft materials are poured into the mould fabricated by photolithography to form microwells.[9]
We present a high-efficiency and low-cost microwell fabrication method based on the use of ionic wind
Summary
Microwells are currently widely applied in optoelectronics field, where they are used as via-hole electrical interconnections,[1] optical lens molds,[2] constrains in electrical material ink jetting,[3] and modulation of optical interface.[4] In a variety of biomedical applications, microwells are used to control the growing cell size,[5] filter chemistry medium,[6] trap particles in liquid flow.[7] As a result, numerous approaches have been developed to fabricate microwell arrays with different properties, for different purposes Among these approaches, photolithography is the most commonly-used technique for its wide application in micro-electronics. The electro-hydrodynamics principle is widely applied to prepare microwells.[22] This method is more preferable to form very thin polymer film.23 3D printing method is extensively adopted.[24]. Our microwell arrays have been successfully applied to cell trapping and re-cultivation, showing its high compatibility and good potentials for various biomedical applications
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