title: Ultrasonic bonding method for heterogeneous microstructures using self-balancing jig.
abstract: Perfect sealing of heterogeneous microstructures in plastic-based microfluidic devices is a significant and urgent challenge to be able to apply them in various microfluidic-based applications, including biosensing, biofiltering, chemical reactors and lab-on-a-chip. In this study we report a simple but practical and effective method to bond a microstructure-incorporated microfluidic device using an ultrasonic bonding method. The specially designed hemisphere-shaped jig, which is called a self-balancing jig, provides a free motion in all x, y, and z directions. These unique properties of the jig allow us to precisely adjust and bond the heterogeneous microstructures in the device. A conventional jig shows in solution leakages around the heterogeneous microstructures while the self-balancing jig did not show any leakages in devices. Furthermore, the bonding performance was also confirmed by using a black ink and fluorescent dye solution. The micro-pillar arrays in the device also demonstrated its capability for selective filtering of microbeads. We believe that this technique would be a useful tool for producing microfluidic devices with heterogeneous microstructures.
authors: Department of Nano Bio Research, National Nanofab Center, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-806, Republic of Korea. sjlee@nnfc.re.kr tjlee@nnfc.re.kr.
authors: Kyoung G
authors: KG
authors: Lee
authors: Sujeong
authors: S
authors: Shin
authors: Byeong Il
authors: BI
authors: Kim
authors: Nam Ho
authors: NH
authors: Bae
authors: Moon-Keun
authors: MK
authors: Lee
authors: Seok Jae
authors: SJ
authors: Lee
authors: Tae Jae
authors: TJ
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D010969:Plastics / Q000737:chemistry; D000069453:Ultrasonic Waves
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics