Scalable Crackle-Lithography for Multifunctional Enclosed Plastic Nanofluidic Devices

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Nanofluidic devices offer significant potential in molecular transport, sensing, and energy conversion.
• Current fabrication methods are often expensive, complex, and labor-intensive, limiting widespread adoption.
• There is a need for scalable, cost-effective nanofabrication techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce crackle-lithography, a novel, simple, and scalable fabrication method for enclosed plastic nanofluidic devices.
• To demonstrate the versatility and accessibility of this new fabrication platform.
• To explore the potential applications of devices fabricated using this method.

Main Methods:

• Crackle-lithography utilizes spontaneous crack formation as a lithographic template.
• Nanochannel networks are transferred into polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) substrates via oxygen-plasma etching.
• Devices are sealed using thermal bonding, creating robust, enclosed nanofluidic systems.
• The process is cleanroom-free and compatible with high-throughput manufacturing.

Main Results:

• Fabricated enclosed plastic nanofluidic devices with highly interconnected nanochannel networks.
• Demonstrated molecular transport of gases, water, and ions through the nanochannels.
• Observed history-dependent ionic conduction with tunable memristive behavior.
• Enabled confined electroless copper deposition within nanochannels.
• Utilized high optical transparency for real-time fluorescence imaging of transport processes.

Conclusions:

• Crackle-lithography provides a versatile, accessible, and scalable platform for nanofluidic device fabrication.
• This method overcomes limitations of traditional nanofabrication, enabling practical implementation.
• Potential applications include sensing, confined chemistry, neuromorphic ionics, and advanced nanofluidic technologies.