Wang Dong, Ma Zhuang, Tian Xinchun
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing 100081 China
National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Material under Shock and Impact Beijing 100081 China.
RSC Adv. 2023 Feb 6;13(8):4874-4879. doi: 10.1039/d2ra08109a.
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micropillar arrays are widely used in research labs and engineering fields as analytical tools for various purposes. When the micropillar length or density surpasses a critical value, micropillars tend to collapse with each other and become unusable. Restoring collapsed PDMS micropillars typically involves the use of low surface tension solvents and ultrasound sonication, but such approach has received little success to date. In this work, we examined the effectiveness of different types of solvents for restoring collapsed PDMS micropillar arrays and show that the swelling ratio of PDMS in selected solvents constitutes an important factor in the effectiveness of restoring collapsed PDMS micropillars. Our results could be a promoter in recycling PDMS micropillar arrays and achieving economic and social benefits.
聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)微柱阵列作为用于各种目的的分析工具,在研究实验室和工程领域中被广泛使用。当微柱长度或密度超过临界值时,微柱往往会相互坍塌而无法使用。恢复坍塌的PDMS微柱通常需要使用低表面张力溶剂和超声处理,但迄今为止这种方法收效甚微。在这项工作中,我们研究了不同类型溶剂对恢复坍塌的PDMS微柱阵列的有效性,并表明PDMS在选定溶剂中的溶胀率是恢复坍塌的PDMS微柱有效性的一个重要因素。我们的结果可能会推动PDMS微柱阵列的回收利用并实现经济和社会效益。