Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 33: Poster Session III

CPP 33.1: Poster

Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 14:00–16:00, Poster C

Microfluidic flow cell design based on additive manufacturing — •Max Männel, Ricardo Bernhardt, Andreas Fery, and Julian Thiele — Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung e.V., Dresden, Germany

Droplet-based microfluidics has undergone a rapid growth in recent years due to its potential in material design and biological applications. The most common technique for microfluidic flow cell fabrication is a combination of photo- and soft lithography. In this process, the widely used poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is cured to replicate the microchannel structure, which is then bound to a glass slide. This multi-step process is time-consuming and arduous. A promising alternative technique is additive manufacturing utilizing stereolithography (SL). This 3D printing technique has drawn attention due to its low-cost fabrication and fast process time. It is based on a Digital Light Processor (DLP), which translates a digital image into a XY-illumination pattern. This way, a 3D CAD design of a micro flow cell can be printed layer-by-layer.

While the formation of double and higher-order emulsion droplets in planar flow cells generally requires spatially resolved microchannel wettability, we fabricated 3D-printed non-planar microchannels via SL with a resolution of 100 μm for the first time to avoid the influence of wettability. Additionally, 3D-printed planar emulsion generators with a resolution of 20 μm were fabricated. With that, we are able to fabricate micro flow cells with the same resolution as in conventional fabrication methods, but within much shorter process time.