Suspended Liquid Subtractive Lithography: One-step generation of 3D channel geometries in viscous curable polymer matrices.

ABSTRACT: The miniaturization of synthesis, analysis and screening experiments is an important step towards more environmentally friendly chemistry, statistically significant biology and fast and cost-effective medicinal assays. The facile generation of arbitrary 3D channel structures in polymers is pivotal to these techniques. Here we present a method for printing microchannels directly into viscous curable polymer matrices by injecting a surfactant into the uncured material via a steel capillary attached to a 3D printer. We demonstrate this technique using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) one of the most widely used polymers for the fabrication of, e. g. microfluidic chips. We show that this technique which we term Suspended Liquid Subtractive Lithography (SLSL) is well suited for printing actuators, T

SUBMITTER: Helmer D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5547044 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature