Investigation of Processing Parameters for the Fabrication of Microfluidic Connectors Using a UV-assisted Coaxial 3D Printing System

Effective and reliable world-to-chip interface is one significant requirement for microfluidics. A simple, rapid with wide applicability approach for fabricating microfluidic connectors has been proposed using a UV-assisted coaxial 3D printing system. An assembled coaxial nozzle and a focused UV LED light source were designed to enable the process. This paper systematically investigates the processing parameters to achieve successful and stable printing. Photo-DSC measurements have been performed to characterize the UV curing reaction of UV adhesives used in study. Co-flow behaviors corresponded to flow rates, including dripping, undulant jetting, thread jetting and outer flow are observed and co-flow behavior region has been concluded. In addition, different flow rates show the potential to obtain microfluidic connectors with various inner channel diameter. The achieved smallest inner channel is at the order of 100 microns.