Title: New approach for paper-based microchannel fabrication by inkjet printing technology

Authors: Ngan Nguyen Le; Hue Cam Thi Phan; Huong Kim Tran; Dung My Thi Dang; Chien Mau Dang

Addresses: Institute for Nanotechnology, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, Community 6, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam; University of Science, Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, 227 Nguyen Van Cu Street, Ward 4, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam ' Institute for Nanotechnology, Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Community 6, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam ' Institute for Nanotechnology, Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Community 6, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam ' Institute for Nanotechnology, Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Community 6, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam ' Institute for Nanotechnology, Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Community 6, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

Abstract: Microfluidic chip in general and paper-based microfluidic chip in particular have attracted much scientific interest recently due to their potential applications. Paper-based microfluidics, or lab-on-paper, have many advantage features such as low cost, easy to use, portability and disposability. There are two popular methods using inkjet printing technology to fabricate microchannel on paper substrate: direct and indirect method. In this paper, a different approach is proposed to fabricate microchannels on nitrocellulose substrate. Glycol ether solution-based ink is inkjet-printed on a paper substrate to dissolve the substrate and form hydrophobic lines. For this, glycol ether solution-ink is first prepared to obtain suitable viscosity for our piezoelectric inkjet printer. After that, a form with a triangle shape is printed using this ink with different parameters of inkjet printer. A simple leakage test is performed to evaluate the quality of hydrophobic lines. The results of field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images and leakage test show that 305 μm wide hydrophobic lines are already formed and printed triangle can avoid the leakage of water. Therefore, this method can be used to fabricate paper-based microchannels for microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) applications in the future.

Keywords: inkjet printing; microchannel; paper-based microfluidic; lab-on-paper; glycol ether.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2018.099937

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2018 Vol.15 No.11/12, pp.998 - 1009

Published online: 28 May 2019 *

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