☆ 4.8 Article

Self-shrinking soft demoulding for complex high-aspect-ratio microchannels

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2022)

Journal

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages -

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32859-z

Keywords

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China [51905256]
Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China [2020A1515010955]
Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality [ZDSYS20200811143601004, JCYJ20190809180003689, JSGG20200225150707332, JSGG20191129110812708]
Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province of China (State Key Laboratory of Robotics) [2021-KF-22-11]
Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) [K19313901]
National Natural Science Foundation of China [31970752]

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Abstract

The authors demonstrate a simple and solvent-free fabrication method that can produce microchannels with complex 3D structures. By introducing a soft template and a peeling-dominant template removal process, combined with thermal drawing technology, microchannels with small diameter, high aspect ratio, and intricate 3D geometries are generated. This technology has wide applicability in areas such as soft robotics, wearable sensors, soft antennas, and artificial vessels.

Microchannels are the essential elements for the design of artificial devices but the fabrication of three dimensional (3D) microchannels with complex geometry and a high aspect ratio remains challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate a simple and solvent-free fabrication method capable of producing monolithic microchannels with complex 3D structures, long length, and small diameter. Microchannels are the essential elements in animals, plants, and various artificial devices such as soft robotics, wearable sensors, and organs-on-a-chip. However, three-dimensional (3D) microchannels with complex geometry and a high aspect ratio remain challenging to generate by conventional methods such as soft lithography, template dissolution, and matrix swollen processes, although they are widespread in nature. Here, we propose a simple and solvent-free fabrication method capable of producing monolithic microchannels with complex 3D structures, long length, and small diameter. A soft template and a peeling-dominant template removal process are introduced to the demoulding process, which is referred to as soft demoulding here. In combination with thermal drawing technology, microchannels with a small diameter (10 mu m), a high aspect ratio (6000, length-to-diameter), and intricate 3D geometries are generated. We demonstrate the vast applicability and significant impact of this technology in multiple scenarios, including soft robotics, wearable sensors, soft antennas, and artificial vessels.

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Improved flow boiling performance in high-aspect-ratio interconnected microchannels

Xiao Cheng, Huiying Wu

Summary: High aspect ratio microchannels have the advantage of dissipating more heat per base area, but can experience flow boiling instability due to narrower channel width. By adding micro connection slots in interconnected microchannels, flow boiling instability can be effectively suppressed, leading to significant heat transfer enhancement.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER (2021)