Flash μ-fluidics: a rapid prototyping method for fabricating microfluidic devices

Ulrich Buttner, Shilpa Sivashankar, Sumeyra Agambayev, Yousof Mashraei, Khaled N. Salama

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Microfluidics has advanced in terms of design and structures; however, fabrication methods are time-consuming or expensive relative to facility costs and equipment needed. This work demonstrates a fast and economically viable 2D/3D maskless digital light-projection method based on a stereolithography process. Unlike other fabrication methods, one exposure step is used to form the whole device. Flash microfluidics is achieved by incorporating bonding and channel fabrication of complex structures in just 2.5 s to 4 s and by fabricating channel heights between 25 μm and 150 μm with photopolymer resin. The features of this fabrication technique, such as time and cost saving and easy fabrication, are used to build devices that are mostly needed in microfluidic/lab-on-chip systems. Due to the fast production method and low initial setup costs, the process could be used for point of care applications. © 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)74822-74832
Number of pages11
JournalRSC Adv.
Volume6
Issue number78
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01

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