Centrifugal Casting of Microfluidic Components With PDMS

Abstract

This work describes the centrifugal casting and fast curing of double-sided, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based components with microfeatures. Centrifugal casting permits simultaneous patterning of multiple sides of a component and allows control of the thickness of the part in an enclosed mold without entrapment of bubbles. Spinning molds filled with PDMS at thousands of revolutions per minute for several minutes causes entrapped bubbles within the PDMS to migrate toward the axis of rotation or dissolve into solution. To cure the parts quickly (<10 min), active elements heat and cool cavities filled with PDMS after the completion of spinning. Microfluidic channels produced from the process have a low coefficient of variation (<2% for the height and width of channels measured in 20 parts). This process is also capable of molding functional channels in opposite sides of a part as demonstrated through a device with a system of valves typical to multilayer soft lithography.