Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography

Fabrication of microfluidic devices by soft lithography is by far the most popular approach due to its simplicity and low cost. The approach relies on casting of elastomers, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), on masters fabricated from photoresists on silicon substrates. These masters, however, ca...

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Autores principales:	Filippo Amadeo, Prithviraj Mukherjee, Hua Gao, Jian Zhou, Ian Papautsky
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	soft lithography replica molding polycarbonate polymer masters microfluidics Mechanical engineering and machinery TJ1-1570
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d07f775db2cd4fc283ca9f58d592fbab
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:d07f775db2cd4fc283ca9f58d592fbab
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d07f775db2cd4fc283ca9f58d592fbab2021-11-25T18:23:38ZPolycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography10.3390/mi121113922072-666Xhttps://doaj.org/article/d07f775db2cd4fc283ca9f58d592fbab2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/12/11/1392https://doaj.org/toc/2072-666XFabrication of microfluidic devices by soft lithography is by far the most popular approach due to its simplicity and low cost. The approach relies on casting of elastomers, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), on masters fabricated from photoresists on silicon substrates. These masters, however, can be expensive, complicated to fabricate, and fragile. Here we describe an optimized replica molding approach to preserve the original masters by heat molding of polycarbonate (PC) sheets on PDMS molds. The process is faster and simpler than previously reported methods and does not result in a loss of resolution or aspect ratio for the features. The generated PC masters were used to successfully replicate a wide range of microfluidic devices, including rectangular channels with aspect ratios from 0.025 to 7.3, large area spiral channels, and micropost arrays with 5 µm spacing. Moreover, fabrication of rounded features, such as semi-spherical microwells, was possible and easy. Quantitative analysis of the replicated features showed variability of <2%. The approach is low cost, does not require cleanroom setting or hazardous chemicals, and is rapid and simple. The fabricated masters are rigid and survive numerous replication cycles. Moreover, damaged or missing masters can be easily replaced by reproduction from previously cast PDMS replicas. All of these advantages make the PC masters highly desirable for long-term preservation of soft lithography masters for microfluidic devices.Filippo AmadeoPrithviraj MukherjeeHua GaoJian ZhouIan PapautskyMDPI AGarticlesoft lithographyreplica moldingpolycarbonatepolymer mastersmicrofluidicsMechanical engineering and machineryTJ1-1570ENMicromachines, Vol 12, Iss 1392, p 1392 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	soft lithography replica molding polycarbonate polymer masters microfluidics Mechanical engineering and machinery TJ1-1570
spellingShingle	soft lithography replica molding polycarbonate polymer masters microfluidics Mechanical engineering and machinery TJ1-1570 Filippo Amadeo Prithviraj Mukherjee Hua Gao Jian Zhou Ian Papautsky Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography
description	Fabrication of microfluidic devices by soft lithography is by far the most popular approach due to its simplicity and low cost. The approach relies on casting of elastomers, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), on masters fabricated from photoresists on silicon substrates. These masters, however, can be expensive, complicated to fabricate, and fragile. Here we describe an optimized replica molding approach to preserve the original masters by heat molding of polycarbonate (PC) sheets on PDMS molds. The process is faster and simpler than previously reported methods and does not result in a loss of resolution or aspect ratio for the features. The generated PC masters were used to successfully replicate a wide range of microfluidic devices, including rectangular channels with aspect ratios from 0.025 to 7.3, large area spiral channels, and micropost arrays with 5 µm spacing. Moreover, fabrication of rounded features, such as semi-spherical microwells, was possible and easy. Quantitative analysis of the replicated features showed variability of <2%. The approach is low cost, does not require cleanroom setting or hazardous chemicals, and is rapid and simple. The fabricated masters are rigid and survive numerous replication cycles. Moreover, damaged or missing masters can be easily replaced by reproduction from previously cast PDMS replicas. All of these advantages make the PC masters highly desirable for long-term preservation of soft lithography masters for microfluidic devices.
format	article
author	Filippo Amadeo Prithviraj Mukherjee Hua Gao Jian Zhou Ian Papautsky
author_facet	Filippo Amadeo Prithviraj Mukherjee Hua Gao Jian Zhou Ian Papautsky
author_sort	Filippo Amadeo
title	Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography
title_short	Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography
title_full	Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography
title_fullStr	Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography
title_full_unstemmed	Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography
title_sort	polycarbonate masters for soft lithography
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/d07f775db2cd4fc283ca9f58d592fbab
work_keys_str_mv	AT filippoamadeo polycarbonatemastersforsoftlithography AT prithvirajmukherjee polycarbonatemastersforsoftlithography AT huagao polycarbonatemastersforsoftlithography AT jianzhou polycarbonatemastersforsoftlithography AT ianpapautsky polycarbonatemastersforsoftlithography
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Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography

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