Rapid fabrication of microfluidic PDMS devices from reusable PDMS molds using laser ablation

The conventional fabrication methods for microfluidic devices require cleanroom processes that are costly and time-consuming. We present a novel, facile, and low-cost method for rapid fabrication of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molds and devices. The method consists of three main fabrication steps: female mold (FM), male mold (MM), and chip fabrication. We use a CO2 laser cutter to pattern a thin, spin-coated PDMS layer for FM fabrication. We then obtain reusable PDMS MM from the FM using PDMS/PDMS casting. Finally, a second casting step is used to replicate PDMS devices from the MM. Demolding of one PDMS layer from another is carried out without any potentially hazardous chemical surface treatment. We have successfully demonstrated that this novel method allows fabrication of microfluidic molds and devices with precise dimensions (thickness, width, length) using a single material, PDMS, which is very common across microfluidic laboratories. The whole process, from idea to device testing, can be completed in 1.5 h in a standard laboratory.

[1]  Pelin Kubra Isgor,et al.  Microfluidic droplet content detection using integrated capacitive sensors , 2015 .

[2]  Chee Yoon Yue,et al.  CO2-laser micromachining of PMMA: the effect of polymer molecular weight , 2008 .

[3]  Detlef Snakenborg,et al.  Microstructure fabrication with a CO2 laser system , 2004 .

[4]  Tomasz Glawdel,et al.  Droplet formation in microfluidic T-junction generators operating in the transitional regime. II. Modeling. , 2012, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[5]  Guocheng Shao,et al.  Fabrication of elastomeric high-aspect-ratio microstructures using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) double casting technique , 2012 .

[6]  Chih-Ming Ho,et al.  Surface molecular property modifications for poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) based microfluidic devices , 2009, Microfluidics and nanofluidics.

[7]  Guangya Zhou,et al.  Soft lithography replication based on PDMS partial curing , 2011 .

[8]  Gursel Alici,et al.  A simple and cost-effective method for fabrication of integrated electronic-microfluidic devices using a laser-patterned PDMS layer , 2012 .

[9]  Chien-Hsiung Tsai,et al.  Rapid prototyping of PMMA microfluidic chips utilizing a CO2 laser , 2010 .

[10]  Jianhai Sun,et al.  A facile and simple high-performance polydimethylsiloxane casting based on self-polymerization dopamine , 2014 .

[11]  Neil Reginald Beer,et al.  Observed velocity fluctuations in monodisperse droplet generators. , 2009, Lab on a chip.

[12]  Wolfgang-Andreas C. Bauer,et al.  Microfluidic production of monodisperse functional o/w droplets and study of their reversible pH dependent aggregation behavior , 2011 .

[13]  Changchun Liu.  Rapid fabrication of microfluidic chip with three-dimensional structures using natural lotus leaf template , 2010 .

[14]  Oliver Geschke,et al.  CO(2)-laser micromachining and back-end processing for rapid production of PMMA-based microfluidic systems. , 2002, Lab on a chip.

[15]  Olja Simoska,et al.  A convenient direct laser writing system for the creation of microfluidic masters , 2015 .

[16]  R. Kodzius,et al.  Fabrication of polystyrene microfluidic devices using a pulsed CO2 laser system , 2012 .

[17]  Tomasz Glawdel,et al.  Droplet formation in microfluidic T-junction generators operating in the transitional regime. III. Dynamic surfactant effects. , 2012, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[18]  L. Fu,et al.  Rapid prototyping of glass-based microfluidic chips utilizing two-pass defocused CO2 laser beam method , 2013 .

[19]  Guangya Zhou,et al.  Deformable mold based on-demand microchannel fabrication technology , 2013 .

[20]  G. Whitesides.  The origins and the future of microfluidics , 2006, Nature.

[21]  Weihua Pei,et al.  Conformal coating of parylene for surface anti-adhesion in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) double casting technique , 2013 .

[22]  D. M. Freeman,et al.  Plastic masters-rigid templates for soft lithography. , 2009, Lab on a chip.

[23]  J. Kutter,et al.  Anti-stiction coating of PDMS moulds for rapid microchannel fabrication by double replica moulding , 2011 .

[24]  G. Whitesides,et al.  Rapid Prototyping of Microfluidic Systems in Poly(dimethylsiloxane). , 1998, Analytical chemistry.

[25]  Carl L Hansen,et al.  Three-dimensional large-scale microfluidic integration by laser ablation of interlayer connections. , 2010, Lab on a chip.

[26]  Detlev Belder,et al.  Rapid replication of master structures by double casting with PDMS. , 2009, Lab on a chip.

[27]  Chunxiong Luo,et al.  Artificial lotus leaf by nanocasting. , 2005, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[28]  Hai-Qing Gong,et al.  Templateless prototyping of polydimethylsiloxane microfluidic structures using a pulsed CO2 laser , 2009 .

[29]  Tomasz Glawdel,et al.  Droplet formation in microfluidic T-junction generators operating in the transitional regime. I. Experimental observations. , 2012, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[30]  K Jiang,et al.  Fabrication of hybrid nanostructured arrays using a PDMS/PDMS replication process. , 2012, Lab on a chip.