Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers

Thermal bonding of the same polymer is an important method for obtaining good thermal sealing between two polymeric substrates in microfluidic devices. It is worthwhile to use different grades of the same polymer which have different glass transition temperatures (Tg) because no change in microchann...

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Main Authors: Roy, Sunanda, Yue, Chee Yoon, Wang, Z. Y., Anand, L.
Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2013
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/97326
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/12101
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-973262020-03-07T13:22:17Z Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers Roy, Sunanda Yue, Chee Yoon Wang, Z. Y. Anand, L. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering Thermal bonding of the same polymer is an important method for obtaining good thermal sealing between two polymeric substrates in microfluidic devices. It is worthwhile to use different grades of the same polymer which have different glass transition temperatures (Tg) because no change in microchannel profile and dimensions would occur in the higher Tg substrate during thermal bonding. However, apart from using different grades of a polymer with different Tg, there is no fundamental basis for the selection of suitable substrate pairs. Thus an in-depth study of the thermal bond strength of different grades of TOPAS cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) was conducted. The strength development and chain inter-diffusion across the bonded interface between different TOPAS grades was studied, and the influence of molecular weight (Mw) and bonding temperature was considered. Bonding in both symmetric (between two substrates of the same COC grade) and non-symmetric interfaces (between two substrates of different COC grades) was compared. Bonding was conducted at both below and above the Tg. The thermal bond strengths were assessed from lap shear specimens prepared using a range of bonding temperature, time and pressure. Thermal bonding between 5013 and 6015 polymer substrates at 125 °C for 6 min time under 2 MPa pressure was found to be the most favorable conditions at which no deformation in the geometry of the COC microchannel has been observed. The failure surfaces of the specimens were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Through the above, a basis for selecting different grades of TOPAS to obtain thermally bonded COC microfluidic devices with high strength was developed. The principles established are believed to be applicable to other polymeric microfluidic chips. 2013-07-24T04:45:51Z 2019-12-06T19:41:30Z 2013-07-24T04:45:51Z 2019-12-06T19:41:30Z 2011 2011 Journal Article Roy, S., Yue, C. Y., Wang, Z. Y., & Anand, L. (2012). Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices: Factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers. Sensors and actuators B : chemical, 161(1), 1067-1073. 0925-4005 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/97326 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/12101 10.1016/j.snb.2011.12.011 en Sensors and actuators B : chemical © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
Roy, Sunanda
Yue, Chee Yoon
Wang, Z. Y.
Anand, L.
Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers
description Thermal bonding of the same polymer is an important method for obtaining good thermal sealing between two polymeric substrates in microfluidic devices. It is worthwhile to use different grades of the same polymer which have different glass transition temperatures (Tg) because no change in microchannel profile and dimensions would occur in the higher Tg substrate during thermal bonding. However, apart from using different grades of a polymer with different Tg, there is no fundamental basis for the selection of suitable substrate pairs. Thus an in-depth study of the thermal bond strength of different grades of TOPAS cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) was conducted. The strength development and chain inter-diffusion across the bonded interface between different TOPAS grades was studied, and the influence of molecular weight (Mw) and bonding temperature was considered. Bonding in both symmetric (between two substrates of the same COC grade) and non-symmetric interfaces (between two substrates of different COC grades) was compared. Bonding was conducted at both below and above the Tg. The thermal bond strengths were assessed from lap shear specimens prepared using a range of bonding temperature, time and pressure. Thermal bonding between 5013 and 6015 polymer substrates at 125 °C for 6 min time under 2 MPa pressure was found to be the most favorable conditions at which no deformation in the geometry of the COC microchannel has been observed. The failure surfaces of the specimens were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Through the above, a basis for selecting different grades of TOPAS to obtain thermally bonded COC microfluidic devices with high strength was developed. The principles established are believed to be applicable to other polymeric microfluidic chips.
author2 School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
author_facet School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Roy, Sunanda
Yue, Chee Yoon
Wang, Z. Y.
Anand, L.
format Article
author Roy, Sunanda
Yue, Chee Yoon
Wang, Z. Y.
Anand, L.
author_sort Roy, Sunanda
title Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers
title_short Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers
title_full Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers
title_fullStr Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers
title_full_unstemmed Thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers
title_sort thermal bonding of microfluidic devices : factors that affect interfacial strength of similar and dissimilar cyclic olefin copolymers
publishDate 2013
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/97326
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/12101
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