Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Researchers Use Liquid-in-Liquid Printing to Create 3D Fluidic Devices https://ift.tt/2VZVpPG The mixing of oil and water is generally something most of us have no use for, with the two known to be immiscible liquids—meaning they do not combine together and eventually separate into layers. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are currently studying how these types of mixtures could be helpful in a variety of different scientific applications though. Their findings are discussed in a recently published paper, ‘Harnessing liquid-in-liquid printing and micropatterned substrates to fabricate 3-dimensional all-liquid fluidic devices,’ authored by Wenqian Feng, Yu Chai, Joe Forth, Paul D. Ashby, Thomas P. Russell, and Brett A. Helms. In harnessing liquid structures to create 3D fluidic devices, the researchers explained that such an exercise is an ‘emerging design paradigm’ for chemists today interested in manipulating soft matter and figuring out ways to produce them on demand.
To make such devices, glass supports were coated with superhydrophobic polymers. Next, the researchers used photo-patterning with superhydrophilic channel architectures, also accompanied by an aqueous dispersion of anionic 2D nanoclays.
The manipulated systems are able to reach the desired steady state quickly, and nanoparticle−polymer surfactants (NPS) topography was presented after the researchers employed atomic force microscopy. They reported that their data demonstrated ‘well-packed nanoclays’ at the interface with no structural problems. The researchers also noted that only microchannels with NPS walls could guide flow at the desired rate. Without them, the aqueous phase proceeded to build up at the channel entrance. The team also noted that maximum flow is completely reliant on the channel’s cross-section and overall architecture. The team also went on to investigate membrane permeability, functionalization, and further chemical transformations regarding the fluidic devices with the requisite NPS walls. With the use of NPS films, they found that added microchannels were ‘straightforward to introduce’ direct-write methods.
The fabricated microchannels offered such a stable structure during research and evaluation that the researchers found they could use them as bridges either connecting separate regions on the substrate, or in connecting the device to an exogeneous entity.
Fabrications methods used in 3D design and 3D printing today span many different industries and intricate applications, but you may be surprised to explore further into the science of materials, hardware, and software, and realize how many chemists are using the technology from use in continuous flow systems to studies centered around miniaturization and complex designs in microfluidics. Learn more about current processes in liquid-in-liquid printing here. What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com. [Source / Images: Harnessing liquid-in-liquid printing and micropatterned substrates to fabricate 3-dimensional all-liquid fluidic devices] Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 14, 2019 at 01:15PM
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