Microfluidic Manifolds with High Dynamic Range in Structural Dimensions Replicated in Thermoplastic Materials

In this paper, we present the manufacturing process of a polymer microfluidic device which is currently being used to investigate wetting properties of nanostructured microchannels replicated in hydrophobic thermoplastic materials like cyclo-olefin co-polymer (COC), polypropylene (PP) or polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA). These devices feature large structural dynamics (feature sizes between 200 μm and 200 nm). The mold insert necessary was fabricated using a combination of precision machining with single-point diamond turning (SPDT).