Self‐sealing thermoplastic fluoroelastomer enables rapid fabrication of modular microreactors
| Autor: | Juan Mora-Macías, Alexander H. McMillan, Joan Teyssandier, Emmanuel Roy, Steven De Feyter, Ivo F.J. Vankelecom, Sasha Cai Lesher-Perez, Raymond Thür, Maarten B. J. Roeffaers, Ignacio Ochoa |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Thermoplastic
Fabrication Materials science soft thermoplastic elastomer flow chemistry Nanotechnology 02 engineering and technology microreactor 01 natural sciences Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials chemistry.chemical_classification business.industry 010401 analytical chemistry rapid fabrication Flow chemistry Modular design modular microfluidics solvent resistance 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 0104 chemical sciences chemistry TA401-492 Fluoroelastomer Microreactor 0210 nano-technology business |
| Zdroj: | Nano Select, Vol 2, Iss 7, Pp 1385-1402 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 2688-4011 |
| Popis: | A novel fluorinated soft thermoplastic elastomer (sTPE) for microfluidics is presented. It allows the rapid fabrication of microfluidic devices through a 30‐second hot embossing cycle at 220°C followed by self‐sealing through simple conformal contact at room temperature, or with baking. The material shows high chemical resistance, particularly in comparison to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), to many common organic solvents and can be rapidly micropatterned with high fidelity using a variety of microfluidic master molds thanks to its low mechanical stiffness. Self‐sealing of the material is reversible and withstands pressures of up to 2.8 bar with room temperature sealing and four bar with baking at 185°C for 2 hours. The elastomeric, transparent sTPE exhibits material characteristics that make it suited for use as a microreactor, such as low absorption, surface roughness and oxygen permeability, while also allowing a facile and scalable fabrication process. Modular microfluidic devices, leveraging the fast and reversible room temperature self‐sealing, are demonstrated for the generation of water droplets in a toluene continuous phase using T‐junctions of variable size. The sTPE offers an alternative to common microfluidic materials, overcoming some of their key drawbacks, and giving scope for low‐cost and high‐throughput devices for flow chemistry applications. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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