Development of micro flow control system

• Main Author: Lim, Zhi Jun
• Other Authors: Gong Haiqing, Thomas
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/69401
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This final year project report describes the method of minimizing the bonding gap to achieve fully filled wells on the microfluidic chip. A minimum gap is required to enable the trapped air in the microfluidic chip to be expelled out. With the reduction of the bonding thickness, a greater depth is created to enable more solutions to be stored and filled up the wells completely. The author conducted several experiments to test the effectiveness of the proposed method. The report first covers the developmental stage of the prototype, followed by the selection of the material, the fabrication of the chip, selection of bonding technique and the experimental results and discussions. During the developmental stage of the prototype, it was found out that mounting tape gives the best result but the thickness was not ideal. Furthermore, single inlet cover has been eliminated as air is trapped in the chip. Based on intense research and experimental results, a double inlet chip cover for PDMS replica and its holder were developed. The materials used for the microfluidic can be reused and hence it is cost saving and environmental friendly. The author discussed on the experiments conducted with dissimilar bonding techniques; Chloroform, Mounting Tapes and 3M VHB Tape.