Rapid prototyping of flexible multilayer microfluidic devices using polyester sealing film

In this study, we proposed a novel fabrication method for rapid prototyping of multilayer flexible microfluidic devices using laser ablated polyester sealing films. The polyester sealing film (adhesive seals) is originally used for the sealing of PCR well plates during the amplification of DNA, the PCR sealing film is found highly suitable as the bulk material for microfluidic devices in this study, due to the excellent biocompatibility, wide range of working temperatures, low-cost, self-adhesive and optical transmittance in the visible range. In this proposed fabrication method, the CO2 laser is used for the ablation of microchannels and alignment marks on the PCR sealing film, and a simple custom-made aliment tool was used for the alignment and bonding. The secured bonding between layers was achieved easily with the PCR sealing film’s own adhesives. For the demonstration of the proposed technique, various microfluidic devices were designed and fabricated, bonding strength test was also provided in this study.