Multifunctional microfluidic devices from tailored photopolymer formulations

Max J. Männel; Niclas Weigel; Julian Thiele

doi:10.1117/12.2514798

4 March 2019 Multifunctional microfluidic devices from tailored photopolymer formulations

Max J. Männel, Niclas Weigel, Julian Thiele

Proceedings Volume 10875, Microfluidics, BioMEMS, and Medical Microsystems XVII; 1087507 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2514798
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2019, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Here, we demonstrate the additive manufacturing of two key microvalve designs, namely Nordin’s and Quake’s microvalves, based on a formulation consisting of tri(propylene glycol) diacrylate (TPGDA) as a base material, diphenyl(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide (TPO) as a photoinitiator and Sudan1 as the UV-absorber via micro-stereolithography (μSL). Mechanical measurements of test prints show an average Young’s modulus of 15.7 MPa, which is eight times lower compared to several previous studies on 3D-printed microvalves and micropumps based on poly(ethylene glycol diacrylate) 255 (PEGDA-252). We use a high-resolution Cerafab7500 printer (Lithoz GmbH, Vienna) with a minimal lateral resolution of 10.3 μm to print membrane valves with voxel dimensions down to 60μm. Particularly, we study the effect of different comonomers added to the photopolymer formulation – neopentyl glycol propoxylate (1 PO/OH) diacrylate (NPGPDA), 1,6- hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) and 2-phenoxyethyl acrylate (POEA) – on the layer thickness, which is identified to be a crucial parameter. 3D-printed valves are tested regarding maximum operating pressure withstanding pressures of up to 5 bar. We show that TPGDA-based resins combine high flexibility, mechanical stability, and sufficient resolution for the future design of flow control units in microfluidics.

Citation Download Citation

Max J. Männel, Niclas Weigel, and Julian Thiele "Multifunctional microfluidic devices from tailored photopolymer formulations", Proc. SPIE 10875, Microfluidics, BioMEMS, and Medical Microsystems XVII, 1087507 (4 March 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2514798

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