COMBINING MICROMILLING AND LIQUID-BASED SOLVENT BONDING FOR ULTRA-RAPID FABRICATION OF PLASTIC MICROCHIPS

摘要

We discuss experimental results from an alternative, unconventional procedure for fabricating microfluidic chips and devices in thermoplastics that reduces design-to-prototype turnaround times from ～1 week to less than an hour. The workflow consists of (1) computer-aided design, (2) CNC micromilling, and (3) liquid-based solvent bonding. Micromilling creates microchannels with higher surface roughness compared to hot embossing, but solvent bonding generates significantly higher bond strength compared to thermal diffusion bonding. Solvent concentration can be tuned to optimize bond strength and microchannel quality.