Cutuli Emanuela, Saitta Lorena, Tuccitto Nunzio, Cicala Gianluca, Bucolo Maide
Department of Electrical Electronic and Computer Science Engineering, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95125 Catania, Italy.
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95125 Catania, Italy.
Polymers (Basel). 2025 Jul 3;17(13):1864. doi: 10.3390/polym17131864.
This study examined the effect of build orientation on the surface finish of micro-optofludic (MoF) devices fabricated via a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based 3D-printing primary-secondary fabrication protocol, where an inkjet 3D-printing technique was implemented. The molds (i.e., primaries) for fabricating the MoF devices were 3D-printed in two orientations: along XY () and across YX () the printhead direction. Next, the surface finish was characterized using a profilometer to acquire the primary profile of the surface along the microchannel's edge. The results indicated that the build orientation had a strong influence on the latter, since displayed a tall and narrow Gaussian distribution for a channel width of 398.43 ± 0.29 µm; presented a slightly lower value of 393.74 ± 1.67 µm, characterized by a flat and broader distribution, highlighting greater variability due to more disruptive, orthogonally oriented, and striated patterns. These results were also confirmed by hydrodynamically testing the two MoF devices with an air-water slug flow process. A large experimental study was conducted by analyzing the mean period trend in the slug flow with respect to the imposed flow rate and build orientation. showed greater sensitivity to flow rate changes, attributed to its smoother, more consistent microchannel geometry. The slightly narrower average channel width in contributed to increased flow velocity at the expense of having worse discrimination capability at different flow rates. This study is relevant for optimizing 3D-printing strategies for the fabrication of high-performance microfluidic devices, where precise flow control is essential for applications in biomedical engineering, chemical processing, and lab-on-a-chip systems. These findings highlight the effect of microchannel morphology in tuning a system's sensitivity to flow rate modulation.
本研究考察了构建方向对通过基于聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)的3D打印主次制造协议制造的微流控光学(MoF)器件表面光洁度的影响,其中采用了喷墨3D打印技术。用于制造MoF器件的模具(即母模)以两种方向进行3D打印:沿XY()和横跨YX()打印头方向。接下来,使用轮廓仪对表面光洁度进行表征,以获取沿微通道边缘的表面原始轮廓。结果表明,构建方向对后者有很大影响,因为对于398.43±0.29 µm的通道宽度,显示出高且窄的高斯分布;呈现出略低的值393.74±1.67 µm,其特征是分布平坦且更宽,突出了由于更多干扰性、正交取向和条纹状图案而导致的更大变异性。通过对两个MoF器件进行气-水段塞流过程的流体动力学测试,也证实了这些结果。通过分析段塞流中相对于施加流速和构建方向的平均周期趋势,进行了一项大型实验研究。显示出对流速变化的更高敏感性,这归因于其更光滑、更一致的微通道几何形状。中略窄的平均通道宽度导致流速增加,但代价是在不同流速下的分辨能力较差。本研究对于优化用于制造高性能微流控器件的3D打印策略具有重要意义,在生物医学工程、化学加工和芯片实验室系统的应用中,精确的流量控制至关重要。这些发现突出了微通道形态在调节系统对流速调制的敏感性方面的作用。