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Fabrication of sharp-edged 3D microparticles via folded PDMS microfluidic channels.

Chenchen ZhouShuaishuai LiangYongjian LiHaosheng ChenJiang Li
Published in: Lab on a chip (2021)
3D microparticles have promising applications in self-assembly, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc. The shape of microparticles plays a significant role in their functionalities. Although numerous investigations have been conducted to tailor the shape of microparticles, the diversity is still limited, and it remains a challenge to fabricate 3D microparticles with sharp edges. Here, we present a facile approach that combines a folded PDMS channel and orthogonal projection lithography for shaping sharp-edged 3D microparticles. By adjusting the number and the length of channel sides, both regular and irregular polyhedral cross-sections of the folded channel can be obtained. UV light with diverse patterns is applied vertically as the second shape controlling factor. A variety of 3D microparticles are obtained with sharp edges, which are potential templates for micromachining tools and abrasives. Some sharp-edged microparticles are assembled into 2D and 3D mesoscale structures, which demonstrates their prospective applications in self-assembly, tissue engineering, etc.
Keyphrases
  • tissue engineering
  • magnetic resonance imaging
  • high resolution
  • single cell
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  • mass spectrometry
  • climate change
  • circulating tumor cells
  • reduced graphene oxide
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