3D printed microfluidic devices using TOPAS filament for THz spectroscopic measurements

Abstract

We present the 3D printing of microfluidic devices suitable for the THz regime using TOPAS filaments. We assessed the 3D-printed microfluidic devices with THz time-domain spectroscopy and X-ray microscopy. We compared the results of polished and unpolished windows of the 3D printed devices for studying the quality of the 3D printing in the THz and VIS regimes. Spectroscopic measurements were performed of water and lysozyme dissolved in water. We found that the results from the polished and unpolished devices were similar in the THz regime. A detailed calculation of the measurement uncertainty revealed that the dominant component of the measurement uncertainly was the gap thickness. Because of their optical and mechanical properties, we are convinced that 3D printing from TOPAS offers a cost-effective and rapid production of microfluidic devices usable in X-ray, UV, VIS, NIR, and THz regimes.