title: Microfluidic device fabrication by thermoplastic hot-embossing.
abstract: Due to their low cost compatibility with replication-based fabrication methods, thermoplastics represent an exceptionally attractive family of materials for the fabrication of lab-on-a-chip platforms. A diverse range of thermoplastic materials suitable for microfluidic fabrication is available, offering a wide selection of mechanical and chemical properties that can be leveraged and further tailored for specific applications. While high-throughput embossing methods such as reel-to-reel processing of thermoplastics is an attractive method for industrial microfluidic chip production, the use of single chip hot embossing is a cost-effective technique for realizing high-quality microfluidic devices during the prototyping stage. Here we describe methods for the replication of microscale features in two thermoplastics, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC), using hot embossing from a silicon template fabricated by deep reactive-ion etching.
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
authors: Shuang
authors: S
authors: Yang
authors: Don L
authors: DL
authors: Devoe
mesh_terms: D006358:Hot Temperature; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D011076:Polycarboxylate Cement; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D011327:Printing; D012825:Silicon
chemical_list: D011076:Polycarboxylate Cement; C005506:polycarbonate; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D012825:Silicon