Directly Printed Hollow Connectors for Microfluidic Interconnection with UV-Assisted Coaxial 3D Printing
Effective and reliable interconnections are crucial for microfluidics to connect with the macro world. Current microfluidic interfaces are still bulky, expensive, or with issues of clogging and material limitation. In this study, a novel ultraviolet (UV)-assisted coaxial three-dimensional (3D) print...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-05-01
|
Series: | Applied Sciences |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/10/3384 |
_version_ | 1797568021766602752 |
---|---|
author | Qianwen Xu Jeffery Chi Chuen Lo Shi-Wei Ricky Lee |
author_facet | Qianwen Xu Jeffery Chi Chuen Lo Shi-Wei Ricky Lee |
author_sort | Qianwen Xu |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Effective and reliable interconnections are crucial for microfluidics to connect with the macro world. Current microfluidic interfaces are still bulky, expensive, or with issues of clogging and material limitation. In this study, a novel ultraviolet (UV)-assisted coaxial three-dimensional (3D) printing approach was proposed to fabricate hollow microfluidic connectors with advantages of rapid prototyping, fixture-free, and materials compatible. An assembled coaxial nozzle was designed to enable co-flow extrusion, where the inner flow (water) served as the sacrificial layer and the outer flow (adhesive) was cured for shell formation. Furthermore, a converged UV-LED light source was attached to the coaxial nozzle for UV curing of adhesives. UV rheological characterizations were performed to study the UV curing kinematics, and the gelation time was employed to describe the state transition behaviors of UV curable adhesives used in the study. To explore requirements for successful hollow connectors direct printing, processing criteria such as co-flow regime and pre-cure time were investigated. The hollow connectors with an inner channel diameter of ~150 <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mi mathvariant="sans-serif">μ</mi> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>m and a height of 5 mm were successfully printed on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and glass substrate. The integration feasibility of the proposed method was also demonstrated by the presented microfluidic device with printed hollow connectors. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:50:28Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-453a12fbc1e24f708eebab33fc7a771e |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2076-3417 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:50:28Z |
publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Applied Sciences |
spelling | doaj.art-453a12fbc1e24f708eebab33fc7a771e2023-11-20T00:23:48ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172020-05-011010338410.3390/app10103384Directly Printed Hollow Connectors for Microfluidic Interconnection with UV-Assisted Coaxial 3D PrintingQianwen Xu0Jeffery Chi Chuen Lo1Shi-Wei Ricky Lee2Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaElectronic Packaging Laboratory, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaEffective and reliable interconnections are crucial for microfluidics to connect with the macro world. Current microfluidic interfaces are still bulky, expensive, or with issues of clogging and material limitation. In this study, a novel ultraviolet (UV)-assisted coaxial three-dimensional (3D) printing approach was proposed to fabricate hollow microfluidic connectors with advantages of rapid prototyping, fixture-free, and materials compatible. An assembled coaxial nozzle was designed to enable co-flow extrusion, where the inner flow (water) served as the sacrificial layer and the outer flow (adhesive) was cured for shell formation. Furthermore, a converged UV-LED light source was attached to the coaxial nozzle for UV curing of adhesives. UV rheological characterizations were performed to study the UV curing kinematics, and the gelation time was employed to describe the state transition behaviors of UV curable adhesives used in the study. To explore requirements for successful hollow connectors direct printing, processing criteria such as co-flow regime and pre-cure time were investigated. The hollow connectors with an inner channel diameter of ~150 <inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <mi mathvariant="sans-serif">μ</mi> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>m and a height of 5 mm were successfully printed on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and glass substrate. The integration feasibility of the proposed method was also demonstrated by the presented microfluidic device with printed hollow connectors.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/10/3384microfluidicshollow connectorUV-LED3D printingUV rheology |
spellingShingle | Qianwen Xu Jeffery Chi Chuen Lo Shi-Wei Ricky Lee Directly Printed Hollow Connectors for Microfluidic Interconnection with UV-Assisted Coaxial 3D Printing Applied Sciences microfluidics hollow connector UV-LED 3D printing UV rheology |
title | Directly Printed Hollow Connectors for Microfluidic Interconnection with UV-Assisted Coaxial 3D Printing |
title_full | Directly Printed Hollow Connectors for Microfluidic Interconnection with UV-Assisted Coaxial 3D Printing |
title_fullStr | Directly Printed Hollow Connectors for Microfluidic Interconnection with UV-Assisted Coaxial 3D Printing |
title_full_unstemmed | Directly Printed Hollow Connectors for Microfluidic Interconnection with UV-Assisted Coaxial 3D Printing |
title_short | Directly Printed Hollow Connectors for Microfluidic Interconnection with UV-Assisted Coaxial 3D Printing |
title_sort | directly printed hollow connectors for microfluidic interconnection with uv assisted coaxial 3d printing |
topic | microfluidics hollow connector UV-LED 3D printing UV rheology |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/10/3384 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT qianwenxu directlyprintedhollowconnectorsformicrofluidicinterconnectionwithuvassistedcoaxial3dprinting AT jefferychichuenlo directlyprintedhollowconnectorsformicrofluidicinterconnectionwithuvassistedcoaxial3dprinting AT shiweirickylee directlyprintedhollowconnectorsformicrofluidicinterconnectionwithuvassistedcoaxial3dprinting |