Emadzadeh Katayoun, Ghafarinia Vahid
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology Isfahan 84156-83111 Iran
RSC Adv. 2024 Jul 17;14(31):22598-22605. doi: 10.1039/d4ra03039g. eCollection 2024 Jul 12.
Rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices requires low cost materials and simple fabrication methods. PMMA and PCB have been used separately for the fabrication of microfluidic devices in a wide range of applications. Although the combined use of PMMA and PCB can have considerable merits, few works have been reported on the direct bonding of these materials. In this work we have investigated the fabrication of microfluidic devices using PMMA and PCB for the analysis of gaseous samples. In order to yield a reliable direct bonding method, four parameters including temperature, pressure, solvent and patterned interface material were experimentally investigated. Results of testing various prototypes showed that a patterned interface of concentric rectangular copper rings exposed to solvent at room temperature and under moderate pressure provided better adhesion strength, sealing and durability. After successful development of the PMMA-PCB direct bonding process, sample prototypes were designed and fabricated to practically assess the combined advantages of two materials. Presented concepts include implementation of heater on a PCB, array of gas sensors coupled with microchannels, serpentine microchannel and fast evaporation of liquid sample using an SMD resistor. It has been shown that advantages of utilizing PMMA such as fabricating the channel easily and with low cost, can be combined with benefits of a PCB including simple sensor installation and the use of copper tracks and electronic components for gas flow modulation. Moreover, it is possible to implement channel, circuit and other electronic components such as microprocessors on a single device.
微流控装置的快速原型制作需要低成本材料和简单的制造方法。聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯（PMMA）和印刷电路板（PCB）已分别用于广泛应用中的微流控装置制造。尽管PMMA和PCB的联合使用可能具有相当多的优点，但关于这些材料直接键合的报道却很少。在这项工作中，我们研究了使用PMMA和PCB制造用于气态样品分析的微流控装置。为了获得一种可靠的直接键合方法，我们通过实验研究了包括温度、压力、溶剂和图案化界面材料在内的四个参数。对各种原型进行测试的结果表明，在室温及适度压力下暴露于溶剂的同心矩形铜环图案化界面提供了更好的粘合强度、密封性和耐久性。在成功开发出PMMA-PCB直接键合工艺后，设计并制造了样品原型，以实际评估两种材料的综合优势。提出的概念包括在PCB上实现加热器、与微通道耦合的气体传感器阵列、蛇形微通道以及使用贴片电阻器快速蒸发液体样品。结果表明，利用PMMA的优点，如易于且低成本地制造通道，可以与PCB的优点相结合，包括简单的传感器安装以及使用铜轨和电子元件进行气流调制。此外，在单个装置上实现通道、电路和其他电子元件（如微处理器）是可能的。
