Fabrication of Multiple Parallel Microchannels in a Single Microgroove via the Heating Assisted MIMIC Technique

Abstract

For the first time, multiple parallel microchannels in a single microgroove have been fabricated by the heating-assisted micromolding in capillaries technique (HAMIMIC). Microchannel development, cross-sectional shape, and length were all explored in depth. The factors affecting the cross-sectional shape and length of the double-microchannel were also discussed. Finally, a special-shaped PDMS guiding mold was designed to control the cross-sectional shape and length of multiple parallel microchannels for controlled growth. The HAMIMIC technique provides a low-cost, straightforward, and repeatable way to create multiple parallel microchannels in a single microgroove, and will promote the progress of bifurcated vessels and thrombus vessels preparation technology.

Functional microfluidics: theory, microfabrication, and applications

“…However, the enormous initial investment and extreme-high operational fee are unacceptable. Moreover, ensuring that the facility can provide patterns with feature sizes matching the critical dimension required by microfluidic devices is critical [102]. Therefore, adopting other available fabrication methods with various resolutions to manufacture functional microfluidic devices [103,104] is necessary.…”

“…Meanwhile, there are more and more microstructures which have been added into microchannels, including pillars, sawteeth, mushroom heads, and so on [134]. Thus, the selection of optimal materials satisfying these requirements needs to be the priority before the fabrication of microfluidic devices, including polymers [14,102,117,128], metals [135], glass [105,114,136], silicon [114,136], and ceramics [137]. Among which, polymers, including PDMS [102,126,[138][139][140][141], PMMA [14,128,[142][143][144][145], epoxy resins [15], hydrogels [110,146,147], etc [19], are increasingly used for microfluidic devices because of their merits of low cost and outstanding formability [126].…”

“…Thus, the selection of optimal materials satisfying these requirements needs to be the priority before the fabrication of microfluidic devices, including polymers [14,102,117,128], metals [135], glass [105,114,136], silicon [114,136], and ceramics [137]. Among which, polymers, including PDMS [102,126,[138][139][140][141], PMMA [14,128,[142][143][144][145], epoxy resins [15], hydrogels [110,146,147], etc [19], are increasingly used for microfluidic devices because of their merits of low cost and outstanding formability [126]. PDMS is one of the most widely used materials for microfluidic devices [126] with the merits of high elasticity, low viscosity variation with temperature, water resistance, 10 µm [41,122,132] Photosensitive resin [41], Negative Hydrogel [133] Two-photon polymerization (TPP) 50 nm [119,123] Photoresist [123], Negative Sol-gel [119] small surface tension, weather resistance, high shear resistance, low cost, well-operated mold, excellent clarity, natural hydrophobicity, biological compatibility [111], and electrical insulation…”

“…Among which, polymers, including PDMS [102,126,[138][139][140][141], PMMA [14,128,[142][143][144][145], epoxy resins [15], hydrogels [110,146,147], etc [19], are increasingly used for microfluidic devices because of their merits of low cost and outstanding formability [126]. PDMS is one of the most widely used materials for microfluidic devices [126] with the merits of high elasticity, low viscosity variation with temperature, water resistance, 10 µm [41,122,132] Photosensitive resin [41], Negative Hydrogel [133] Two-photon polymerization (TPP) 50 nm [119,123] Photoresist [123], Negative Sol-gel [119] small surface tension, weather resistance, high shear resistance, low cost, well-operated mold, excellent clarity, natural hydrophobicity, biological compatibility [111], and electrical insulation [102]. Thus, various microfluidic devices made of PDMS have been well developed, including topologically complex 3D microfluidic devices [138], hydrophilic PDMS devices treated with oxygen plasma [139], glass coated PDMS microfluidic channels for generating emulsion [140], microfluidic devices with electronic components [141], and so on.…”