Miniaturized free‐flow electrophoresis: production, optimization, and application using 3D printing technology

Abstract

The increasing resolution of three‐dimensional (3D) printing offers simplified access to, and development of, microfluidic devices with complex 3D structures. Therefore, this technology is increasingly used for rapid prototyping in laboratories and industry. Microfluidic free flow electrophoresis (μFFE) is a versatile tool to separate and concentrate different samples (such as DNA, proteins, and cells) to different outlets in a time range measured in mere tens of seconds and offers great potential for use in downstream processing, for example. However, the production of μFFE devices is usually rather elaborate. Many designs are based on chemical pretreatment or manual alignment for the setup. Especially for the separation chamber of a μFFE device, this is a crucial step which should be automatized. We have developed a smart 3D design of a μFFE to pave the way for a simpler production. This study presents (1) a robust and reproducible way to build up critical parts of a μFFE device based on high‐resolution MultiJet 3D printing; (2) a simplified insertion of commercial polycarbonate membranes to segregate separation and electrode chambers; and (3) integrated, 3D‐printed wells that enable a defined sample fractionation (chip‐to‐world interface). In proof of concept experiments both a mixture of fluorescence dyes and a mixture of amino acids were successfully separated in our 3D‐printed μFFE device.

3D Printed Microfluidic Spiral Separation Device for Continuous, Pulsation-Free and Controllable CHO Cell Retention

“…The separation spiral was developed using design guidelines and the design equation articulated by Di Carlo [ 8 ] to facilitate focusing of 18 µm particles (or cells) at a flow rate of 1000 µL min −1 (see Equation (1)). Additionally, the height of the spiral channel was 200 µm, since prior experiments have demonstrated that this size can be reliably produced using the 3D printer [ 19 , 20 ]. …”

Microelectromechanical Systems Based on Magnetic Polymer Films

“…3-D printing is an alternative way of generating even complex 3D-structures. Various printing approaches can be used, such as: stereolithography- SLA [ 91 ], inkjet (including multijet) [ 92 , 93 ] or fused deposition modeling (FDM) [ 94 , 95 ] techniques. Among these, stereolithography offers some specific advantages versus the other printing techniques, especially better resolution, tighter tolerances and better compatibility with the thermoset polymers [ 96 ].…”

“…Certainly, additional techniques such as electrospinning can be used to develop films with oriented or un-oriented patterns to assure specific functions within the more complex devices, including advance separation and cell growth and manipulation under biomimetic conditions [ 93 , 100 ]. Interconnection of the individual units in microfluidic multi-organ-o-a-chip and the possibility of assuring crosstalk of these tissues from different chambers can be also assured by using 3D-printing [ 101 ].…”

3D-printed microfluidics integrated with optical nanostructured porous aptasensors for protein detection

“…The microchannels were located at the bottom layer of the printing plane and in parallel to the printing direction. The printer resolution was 32 μm and a deviation of 10% in size was reported for features with sizes of 100 to 200 μm [38]. After printing, the devices were subjected to several postprocessing steps, as previously described (see Supplementary information for more details) [6,39].…”