Design and fabrication of chemically robust three-dimensional microfluidic valves

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is widely used for microfluidic devices but suffers from poor organic solvent compatibility.
• Fabricating microfluidic valves from chemically robust fluorinated compounds using multilayer soft lithography (MSL) has been challenging due to bonding difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a new method for fabricating microfluidic devices using solvent-resistant fluorinated materials.
• To design and create novel three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic valves from fluorinated compounds.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel three-dimensional (3D) valve design.
• Fabrication of microfluidic devices using molding of a perfluoropolyether (Sifel) onto printed wax molds.
• Utilizing a single monolithic layer approach for device construction.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated microfluidic devices from fluorinated compounds resistant to most organic solvents.
• The developed valves exhibit minimal swelling in organic solvents.
• Demonstrated a new fabrication technique for solvent-resistant microfluidic devices.

Conclusions:

• The novel 3D valve design enables the use of robust fluorinated materials in microfluidics.
• This technique offers a viable alternative to PDMS for applications involving organic solvents.
• The Sifel-based microfluidic devices show significant potential for chemical synthesis and analysis.