3D Printing: Microfabrication and Emerging Concepts

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2017) | Viewed by 30749

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Optical Devices Laboratory, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden
Interests: autonomous lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems; optical chemical sensing; integrated optics design; 3D printed optics; additive microfabrication

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In modern additive fabrication, the freedom to explore complex and diverse architectures is essentially unconstrained. Moreover, 3D printing substantially disentangles design from manufacturing skills and provides a versatile vehicle to materialize concepts, which otherwise would require costly and highly specialized resources. Activity in recent years has been intense, and the potential of 3D printing has been demonstrated in numerous fields. Some of these concepts have already been shown for micro devices and lab-on-a-chip fabrication, whereas others remain as inspiring possibilities, yet to be exploited for microfabrication.

This Special Issue invites contributions (original research papers, review articles, and brief communications) focusing on 3D printing microfabrication and relevant emerging concepts. We seek to provide a comprehensive collection highlighting advances in 3D printing methods and materials, embedded functionality, such as nano-structuring or chemical conditioning, and related applications such as 3D printed microfluidic systems and components, as well as organ-on-a-chip and 4D concepts.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Filippini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • 3D printing
  • additive manufacturing
  • microfabrication
  • 3D printed Lab-on-a-chip
  • organ-on-a-chip
  • 4D printing
  • nano 3D printing
  • rapid prototyping
  • microfluidics
  • microdevices
  • metamaterials

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

1672 KiB  
Article
Modular, Discrete Micromixer Elements Fabricated by 3D Printing
by Krisna C. Bhargava, Roya Ermagan, Bryant Thompson, Andrew Friedman and Noah Malmstadt
Micromachines 2017, 8(5), 137; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi8050137 - 26 Apr 2017
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5994
Abstract
3D printing facilitates the straightforward construction of microchannels with complex three-dimensional architectures. Here, we demonstrate 3D-printed modular mixing components that operate on the basis of splitting and recombining fluid streams to decrease interstream diffusion length. These are compared to helical mixers that operate [...] Read more.
3D printing facilitates the straightforward construction of microchannels with complex three-dimensional architectures. Here, we demonstrate 3D-printed modular mixing components that operate on the basis of splitting and recombining fluid streams to decrease interstream diffusion length. These are compared to helical mixers that operate on the principle of chaotic advection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing: Microfabrication and Emerging Concepts)
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4077 KiB  
Article
3D–4D Printed Objects: New Bioactive Material Opportunities
by Céline A. Mandon, Loïc J. Blum and Christophe A. Marquette
Micromachines 2017, 8(4), 102; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi8040102 - 27 Mar 2017
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 8072
Abstract
One of the main objectives of 3D printing in health science is to mimic biological functions. To reach this goal, a 4D printing might be added to 3D-printed objects which will be characterized by their abilities to evolve over time and under external [...] Read more.
One of the main objectives of 3D printing in health science is to mimic biological functions. To reach this goal, a 4D printing might be added to 3D-printed objects which will be characterized by their abilities to evolve over time and under external stimulus by modifying their shape, properties or composition. Such abilities are the promise of great opportunities for biosensing and biomimetic systems to progress towards more physiological mimicking systems. Herein are presented two 4D printing examples for biosensing and biomimetic applications using 3D-printed enzymes. The first one is based on the printing of the enzymatic couple glucose oxidase/peroxidase for the chemiluminescent detection of glucose, and the second uses printed alkaline phosphatase to generate in situ programmed and localized calcification of the printed object. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing: Microfabrication and Emerging Concepts)
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720 KiB  
Article
Fluid Micro-Reservoirs Array Design with Auto-Pressure Regulation for High-Speed 3D Printers
by Moshe Einat
Micromachines 2016, 7(11), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi7110202 - 7 Nov 2016
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3680
Abstract
Three dimensional (3D) printing technology is rapidly evolving such that printing speed is now a crucial factor in technological developments and future applications. For printing heads based on the inkjet concept, the number of nozzles on the print head is a limiting factor [...] Read more.
Three dimensional (3D) printing technology is rapidly evolving such that printing speed is now a crucial factor in technological developments and future applications. For printing heads based on the inkjet concept, the number of nozzles on the print head is a limiting factor of printing speed. This paper offers a method to practically increase the number of nozzles unlimitedly, and thus to dramatically ramp up printing speed. Fluid reservoirs are used in inkjet print heads to supply fluid through a manifold to the jetting chambers. The pressure in the reservoir’s outlet is important and influences device performance. Many efforts have been made to regulate pressure inside the fluid reservoirs so as to obtain a constant pressure in the chambers. When the number of nozzles is increased too much, the regulation of uniform pressure among all the nozzles becomes too complicated. In this paper, a different approach is taken. The reservoir is divided into an array of many micro-reservoirs. Each micro-reservoir supports one or a few chambers, and has a unique structure with auto-pressure regulation, where the outlet pressure is independent of the fluid level. The regulation is based on auto-compensation of the gravity force and a capillary force having the same dependence on the fluid level; this feature is obtained by adding a wedge in the reservoir with a unique shape. When the fluid level drops, the gravitational force and the capillary force decrease with it, but at similar rates. Terms for the force balance are derived and, consequently, a constant pressure in the fluid micro-reservoir segment is obtained automatically, with each segment being autonomous. This micro reservoir array is suggested for the enlargement of an inkjet print head and the achievement of high-speed 3D printing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing: Microfabrication and Emerging Concepts)
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5208 KiB  
Article
3D Printed Paper-Based Microfluidic Analytical Devices
by Yong He, Qing Gao, Wen-Bin Wu, Jing Nie and Jian-Zhong Fu
Micromachines 2016, 7(7), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi7070108 - 28 Jun 2016
Cited by 56 | Viewed by 12362
Abstract
As a pump-free and lightweight analytical tool, paper-based microfluidic analytical devices (μPADs) attract more and more interest. If the flow speed of μPAD can be programmed, the analytical sequences could be designed and they will be more popular. This reports presents a novel [...] Read more.
As a pump-free and lightweight analytical tool, paper-based microfluidic analytical devices (μPADs) attract more and more interest. If the flow speed of μPAD can be programmed, the analytical sequences could be designed and they will be more popular. This reports presents a novel μPAD, driven by the capillary force of cellulose powder, printed by a desktop three-dimensional (3D) printer, which has some promising features, such as easy fabrication and programmable flow speed. First, a suitable size-scale substrate with open microchannels on its surface is printed. Next, the surface of the substrate is covered with a thin layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to seal the micro gap caused by 3D printing. Then, the microchannels are filled with a mixture of cellulose powder and deionized water in an appropriate proportion. After drying in an oven at 60 °C for 30 min, it is ready for use. As the different channel depths can be easily printed, which can be used to achieve the programmable capillary flow speed of cellulose powder in the microchannels. A series of microfluidic analytical experiments, including quantitative analysis of nitrite ion and fabrication of T-sensor were used to demonstrate its capability. As the desktop 3D printer (D3DP) is very cheap and accessible, this device can be rapidly printed at the test field with a low cost and has a promising potential in the point-of-care (POC) system or as a lightweight platform for analytical chemistry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing: Microfabrication and Emerging Concepts)
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