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CO2 Laser Fabrication of a Passive continuous-flow T-shaped Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) Micromixer

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Abstract

Since the emergence of microfluidics, the demand for microfluidic devices is ever increasing. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is extensively used to manufacture microfluidic devices because it is cheap, disposable, and biocompatible. CO2 laser micromachining of PMMA is cheap, fast, and efficient. However, thermal defects affect the process. In this work, a passive continuous-flow T-shaped micromixer was fabricated using a low-power CO2 laser. Microchannels were fabricated on PMMA substrates coated with a 1-µm layer of 99.95% pure aluminium. The power and speed of the laser varied from 1.5 to 7.5 W and 5 to 17.5 mm/s respectively. The effects of the deposited energy on surface roughness, heat-affected zone, and volumetric removal rate were examined. The microchannels were characterized to get the suitable dimensions for the micromixer’s microchannel which was fabricated at 3.0 W and 17.5 mm/s. The micromixer was bonded using the microwave welding technique and tested for leakage using purple dye by varying the flow pressure at intervals of 100 kPa for 20 min. Up to 1.5 MPa, no leakage occurred. Beyond 1.5 MPa, any increase in pressure resulted in leakage from the inlet tubes. Coating PMMA substrates with 99.95% pure aluminium before fabrication reduces thermal defects and improves efficiency.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge JICA for the esteemed TICAD7 scholarship offered to the first author. Special acknowledgment is extended to the Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF-12417) project for the equipment in the Microfabrication center used in this research. The authors sincerely appreciate Moataz Abdel Karim, Shimaa Elsayed Ibrahim, Asmaa Wadee, and Mohamed Adel for their incredible assistance.

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, University of Science and Technology, New Borg El-Arab City, Egypt

    Job Lazarus Okello & Hassan A. El-Hofy

  2. Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering Department, University of Science and Technology, New Borg El-Arab City, Egypt

    Ahmed M. Fath El-Bab

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Masahiko Yoshino

  4. On leave from Department of Production Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

    Hassan A. El-Hofy

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  1. Job Lazarus Okello
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  2. Ahmed M. Fath El-Bab
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  3. Masahiko Yoshino
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  4. Hassan A. El-Hofy
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Contributions

Job Lazarus Okello: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Data curation, Visualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Validation, Writing-Original draft Preparation. Ahmed M. R. Fath El-Bab: Supervision, Resources, Project administration, Writing-Reviewing, and Editing. Masahiko Yoshino: Supervision, Writing-Reviewing, and Editing. Hassan A. El-Hofy: Supervision, Resources, Project administration, Writing-Revision, and Editing.

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Correspondence to Job Lazarus Okello.

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Okello, J.L., El-Bab, A.M.F., Yoshino, M. et al. CO2 Laser Fabrication of a Passive continuous-flow T-shaped Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) Micromixer. Lasers Manuf. Mater. Process. 10, 373–388 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40516-023-00212-x

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