title: Hot embossing and thermal bonding of poly(methyl methacrylate) microfluidic chips using positive temperature coefficient ceramic heater.
abstract: As a self-regulating heating device, positive temperature coefficient ceramic heater was employed for hot embossing and thermal bonding of poly(methyl methacrylate) microfluidic chip because it supplied constant-temperature heating without electrical control circuits. To emboss a channel plate, a piece of poly(methyl methacrylate) plate was sandwiched between a template and a microscopic glass slide on a positive temperature coefficient ceramic heater. All the assembled components were pressed between two elastic press heads of a spring-driven press while a voltage was applied to the heater for 10 min. Subsequently, the embossed poly(methyl methacrylate) plate bearing negative relief of channel networks was bonded with a piece of poly(methyl methacrylate) cover sheet to obtain a complete microchip using a positive temperature coefficient ceramic heater and a spring-driven press. High quality microfluidic chips fabricated by using the novel embossing/bonding device were successfully applied in the electrophoretic separation of three cations. Positive temperature coefficient ceramic heater indicates great promise for the low-cost production of poly(methyl methacrylate) microchips and should find wide applications in the fabrication of other thermoplastic polymer microfluidic devices.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, College of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Luyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry; D046209:Electrophoresis, Microchip / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006361:Heating; D006358:Hot Temperature; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate