title: Facile and cost-effective production of microscale PDMS architectures using a combined micromilling-replica moulding (μMi-REM) technique.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: BUBBL, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carugo
authors.affiliation: BUBBL, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK.
authors.forename: Jeong Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: BUBBL, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pora
authors.affiliation: BUBBL, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Browning
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, University College London (UCL), London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Capretto
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, I-44121, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nastruzzi
authors.affiliation: BUBBL, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK. eleanor.stride@eng.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Eleanor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stride
mesh_terms: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D009757:Nylons / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D009757:Nylons; C085707:poly(dimethylsiloxane)-polyamide copolymer
keywords: Emulsions; Microbubbles; Microchannel; Microfabrication; Microfluidic; Micromilling; Pdms; Pmma; Replica moulding