Liquid phase solvent bonding of plastic microfluidic devices assisted by retention grooves

Abstract

We report a novel method for achieving consistent liquid phase solvent bonding of plastic microfluidic devices via the use of retention grooves at the bonding interface. The grooves are patterned during the regular microfabrication process, and can be placed at the periphery of a device, or surrounding microfluidic features with open ports, where they effectively mitigate solvent evaporation, and thus substantially reduce poor bond coverage. This method is broadly applicable to a variety of plastics and solvents, and produces devices with high bond quality (i.e., coverage, strength, and microfeature fidelity) that are suitable for studies in physics, chemistry, and cell biology at the microscale.

Safe and cost-effective rapid-prototyping of multilayer PMMA microfluidic devices

“…Generally these procedures are time-consuming and require specialist equipment (Lin et al 2007). It was shown that containment grooves between the layers to bond can improve the efficiency of solvent-assisted bonding methods (Wan et al 2015). Interfacial heating caused by low amplitude ultrasonic was used to bind preheated PMMA layers with imprinted nanochannels .…”

Fundamentals of rapid injection molding for microfluidic cell-based assays

“…The creation of microfluidic devices from injection molded devices often requires the bonding of an additional layer of plastic to create closed cavities. 23,30,31 Figure 6A shows an example of a polystyrene cell culture device in which the channel walls and ceiling were produced by injection molding and the floor of the channel is a polystyrene sheet that is bonded to the injection molded device using acetonitrile solvent bonding. The device is based on a design previously published for primary testis cell culture studies.…”

Polymer Microfluidics: Simple, Low-Cost Fabrication Process Bridging Academic Lab Research to Commercialized Production

“…Direct bonding is a bonding process that uses no intermediate material at the bonding interface. Methods such as thermal fusion bonding [ 41 , 42 ], ultrasonic welding [ 43 ], surface modification [ 44 , 45 , 46 ], and solvent bonding [ 47 , 48 ] are categorized as direct bonding methods. Indirect bonding is defined as bonding that involves the use of an additional material or chemical reagents to assist in the bonding, such as epoxy, adhesive tape, or chemical reagents.…”