Inkjet printing of microfluidic channels
First Claim
1. An apparatus for fabricating one or more microfluidic channels in a substrate body, comprising:
- a print bed for receiving a substrate;
a first inkjet head capable of delivering a stream of droplets of a first material directed at a surface of the substrate, wherein the first material is a hydrophobic material;
a second inkjet head capable of delivering a stream of droplets of a second material directed at the surface of the substrate, wherein the second material is a mixture of a hydrophobic polymer and photoacid generator, and wherein the hydrophobic polymer contains a hydrolyzable group and hydrolyzes to form a hydrophilic material;
an x-y plane drive mechanism capable of producing relative movement between the first and second inkjet heads and the substrate in an x-y plane of the substrate, wherein the x-y plane drive mechanism, for each of a plurality of layers in a layer-by-layer fabrication of the one or more microfluidic channels on the substrate, moves the first inkjet head relative to the substrate so as to deposit droplets of the hydrophobic first material on the surface of the substrate in a first pattern lying outside a two-dimensional layout of the one or more microfluidic channels and moves the second inkjet head relative to the substrate so as to deposit droplets of the mixture on the surface of the substrate in a second pattern lying inside the two-dimensional layout of the one or more microfluidic channels.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mechanism for fabricating microfluidic channels uses a three-dimensional inkjet printing unit to print the channels layer-by-layer on a substrate. In one embodiment, for each layer, an inkjet head deposits droplets of a hydrophobic material on a surface the substrate in a pattern lying outside a two-dimensional layout of the channels, and another inkjet head deposits droplets of a mixture of poly(tetrahydropyranyl methacrylate) PTHPMA (or another hydrophobic material which hydrolyzes to form a hydrophilic material) and a photoacid generator (PAG) on the surface of the substrate in a pattern lying inside the two-dimensional layout of the channels. After all layers are printed, flood exposure of the entire substrate to UV radiation releases acid from the PAG which hydrolyzes PTHPMA to form hydrophilic poly(methacrylic acid) PMMA, thereby rendering the PTHPMA regions hydrophilic. The layers of these now-hydrophilic patterned regions together define the microfluidic channels.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for fabricating one or more microfluidic channels in a substrate body, comprising:
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a print bed for receiving a substrate; a first inkjet head capable of delivering a stream of droplets of a first material directed at a surface of the substrate, wherein the first material is a hydrophobic material; a second inkjet head capable of delivering a stream of droplets of a second material directed at the surface of the substrate, wherein the second material is a mixture of a hydrophobic polymer and photoacid generator, and wherein the hydrophobic polymer contains a hydrolyzable group and hydrolyzes to form a hydrophilic material; an x-y plane drive mechanism capable of producing relative movement between the first and second inkjet heads and the substrate in an x-y plane of the substrate, wherein the x-y plane drive mechanism, for each of a plurality of layers in a layer-by-layer fabrication of the one or more microfluidic channels on the substrate, moves the first inkjet head relative to the substrate so as to deposit droplets of the hydrophobic first material on the surface of the substrate in a first pattern lying outside a two-dimensional layout of the one or more microfluidic channels and moves the second inkjet head relative to the substrate so as to deposit droplets of the mixture on the surface of the substrate in a second pattern lying inside the two-dimensional layout of the one or more microfluidic channels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of fabricating one or more microfluidic channels in a substrate body, comprising the steps of:
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placing a substrate on a print bed; directing a stream of droplets of a first material from a first inkjet head at a surface of the substrate, wherein the first material is hydrophobic; directing a stream of droplets of a second material from a second inkjet head at the surface of the substrate, wherein the second material is a mixture of a hydrophobic polymer and a photoacid generator, and wherein the hydrophobic polymer contains a hydrolyzable group and hydrolyzes to form a hydrophilic material; moving the first and second inkjet heads relative to the substrate in an x-y plane of the substrate, wherein the step of moving the first and second inkjet heads relative to the substrate in the x-y plane of the substrate, for each of a plurality of layers in a layer-by-layer fabrication of the one or more microfluidic channels on the substrate, includes the steps of; moving the first inkjet head relative to the substrate so as to deposit droplets of the hydrophobic material on the surface of the substrate in a first pattern based on a two-dimensional layout of the one or more microfluidic channels; and moving the second inkjet head relative to the substrate so as to deposit droplets of the mixture on the surface of the substrate in a second pattern based on the two-dimensional layout of the one or more microfluidic channels; flood exposing the substrate having the plurality of layers deposited thereon to UV light to render the hydrophobic polymer hydrophilic, wherein the UV light during this flood exposure of the substrate penetrates all of the plurality of layers to a sufficient extent to release acid from the photoacid generator which hydrolyzes the hydrophobic polymer to form the hydrophilic material. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer program product for fabricating one or more microfluidic channels in a substrate body, the computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code when executed by a processor in a digital computing device causes a three-dimensional inkjet printing unit to perform the steps of; directing a stream of droplets of a first material from a first inkjet head of the three-dimensional inkjet printing unit at a surface of a substrate, wherein the first material is hydrophobic; directing a stream of droplets of a second material from a second inkjet head of the three-dimensional inkjet printing unit at the surface of the substrate, wherein the second material is a mixture of a hydrophobic polymer and a photoacid generator, and wherein the hydrophobic polymer contains a hydrolyzable group and hydrolyzes to form a hydrophilic material; moving the first and second inkjet heads relative to the substrate in an x-y plane of the substrate, wherein the step of moving the first and second inkjet heads relative to the substrate in the x-y plane of the substrate, for each of a plurality of layers in a layer-by-layer fabrication of the one or more microfluidic channels on the substrate, includes the steps of; moving the first inkjet head relative to the substrate so as to deposit droplets of the hydrophobic material on the surface of the substrate in first pattern lying outside a two-dimensional layout of the one or more microfluidic channels; and moving the second inkjet head relative to the substrate so as to deposit droplets of the mixture on the surface of the substrate in a second pattern lying inside the two-dimensional layout of the one or more microfluidic channels. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
Specification