Facile and cost-effective production of microscale PDMS architectures using a combined micromilling-replica moulding (μMi-REM) technique.

We describe a cost-effective and simple method to fabricate PDMS-based microfluidic devices by combining micromilling with replica moulding technology. It relies on the following steps: (i) microchannels are milled in a block of acrylic; (ii) low-cost epoxy adhesive resin is poured over the milled a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Biomedical Microdevices Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 4 - 14
Autores principales: Carugo, Dario, Jeong Yu Lee, Pora, Anne, Browning, Richard J., Capretto, Lorenzo, Nastruzzi, Claudio, Stride, Eleanor
Formato: Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Feb2016
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:We describe a cost-effective and simple method to fabricate PDMS-based microfluidic devices by combining micromilling with replica moulding technology. It relies on the following steps: (i) microchannels are milled in a block of acrylic; (ii) low-cost epoxy adhesive resin is poured over the milled acrylic block and allowed to cure; (iii) the solidified resin layer is peeled off the acrylic block and used as a mould for transferring the microchannel architecture onto a PDMS layer; finally (iv) the PDMS layer is plasma bonded to a glass surface. With this method, microscale architectures can be fabricated without the need for advanced technological equipment or laborious and time-consuming intermediate procedures. In this manuscript, we describe and validate the microfabrication procedure, and we illustrate its applicability to emulsion and microbubble production.