Rapid prototyping of poly(methyl methacrylate) microfluidic systems using solvent imprinting and bonding

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Microfluidics
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Microfluidic devices are crucial for various analytical applications.
• Traditional fabrication methods for hard polymer microfluidics can be complex and time-consuming.
• There is a need for rapid and cost-effective prototyping techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simplified and rapid prototyping method for hard polymer microfluidic systems.
• To investigate the use of patterned SU-8 photoresist on glass as a template for solvent imprinting.
• To assess the reproducibility and performance of fabricated poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microfluidic chips.

Main Methods:

• Solvent imprinting using acetonitrile on PMMA.
• Utilizing patterned SU-8 photoresist on glass as a reusable template.
• Room temperature bonding of PMMA components with applied pressure.
• Fabrication process optimization for speed and reproducibility.

Main Results:

• Successful rapid prototyping of PMMA microfluidic chips in under 15 minutes.
• High chip-to-chip reproducibility with low relative standard deviations (2.3% width, 5.4% depth).
• Demonstrated high-performance separation of amino acid and peptide mixtures in <15 seconds.
• Achieved theoretical plate numbers >5000 and excellent migration time stability (1.5% intra-day, 2.2% inter-day).

Conclusions:

• The developed solvent imprinting and bonding method significantly simplifies microfluidic fabrication in hard polymers.
• This approach allows for rapid, reproducible, and cost-effective production of high-performance microfluidic devices.
• The fabricated PMMA microchips are suitable for fast and sensitive analytical separations.