A novel hot embossing/low temperature ethanol solvent bonding method for the fabrication of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) field flow fractionation devices has been developed. The separation channel on a PMMA substrate was generated by a hot embossing process without vacuum. Special temperature-pressure profiles were used to analyze the influence of the hot embossing parameters. After the hot embossing process, ethanol solvent bonding was used to seal the separation channel on the PMMA substrate. The experimental results show that the bonding strength with ethanol solvent bonding at 35 °C (aspect ratio (depth/width): 0.043) is 3.05 MPa, and the deformation percentage is very low (0.54%). A burst pressure test indicated that the as-prepared PMMA gravitational field flow fractionation device has a very high burst pressure. Furthermore, the higher resolution of the as-prepared PMMA gravitational field flow fractionation device in the separation of wheat and starch particles shows that the hot embossing/low temperature ethanol solvent bonding technique will have potential commercial value.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.