Sticker microfluidics: A toolbox of combinable sacrificial templates for instrument-free customization of complex microfluidic systems in one-piece

Abstract

This paper reports an all-in-one toolbox which allows instrument-free customization of integrated microfluidic systems. Unlike the modular design of combining multiple microfluidic chips in previous literatures, this work, for the first time, proposes a ‘template sticker’ method: sacrificial templates for microfluidic components are batch produced in the form of stickers and packaged into a toolbox; a wettability guided emulsion linking method is employed to thoroughly connect the sticker templates; the end user only need to combine various template stickers to create a customized, one-piece microfluidic system. The newly-proposed toolbox enables easy and rapid operation, providing the first instrument-free solution to the fabrication of an integrated complex microfluidic system. The fabricated device has well-defined microscale features and excellent flexibility while the whole process is inexpensive and time-saving, making the toolbox suitable for both batch production and device prototyping.