Microfludics Channel Info

Does cleaning glass-slide help for better PDMS-glass bonding?
Facing trouble (bonding-leakage) while using hand-pressure to pass liquid through my

microfluidics device. I used UVO-cleaning instead of plasma-bonding (PB not available).
The way I cleaned the glass slide before UVO step: H2SO4 (70%) Overnight> dH2O > Soak
with Methanol (~100%) > IPA (~100) > also add Acetone (~100) sometimes > UVO-
treatment.
Microfluidics Channel precision = 20 um
PDMS (10:1)
Glass slide = Microscope cover slip 25*45mm
Please let me know if you need more clarification.
Thank you for your suggestion.
Cleaning
Glass
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices
Microfluidic Chip Development and Manufacturing
Geometry of Microfluidic Channels. Design Tips

To describe geometry of the microfluidic channel in your design, three specifications need to
be given to the manufacturer. 1)Top view. 2) Cross section. 3) Longitudinal profile. Here
we define these parameters and give simple tips to avoid design mistakes.
Top-view of the Microfluidic Chip
A top view is what is seen when the chip is looked from top!
Manufacturer uses this drawing or image to

get an idea about Microchannel length, its shape (straight, curved, T, cross, Y,…), inlet and
outlet location, the distance between the channel and the chip edge, features density (what
portion of the microfluidic chip area is populated with microfeatures), and separation of the
channels or features from each other.
Design Tips: The ports need to be properly distanced for access to tubing or connections.
The channels and the ports need to be in a safe distance from the chip edge. This is to
avoid sporadic leakage. Avoid overcrowding the chip with too many channels or wells.
This will facilitate de-molding, saving molds, and eventually saving money. Keep the chip
layout (blue line in the image) as a rectangle if possible. This would help with parts dicing or
cutting, and helps with parts unwanted warping.
Cross Section of the Microfluidic Channel
If the chip is sliced somewhere along the channel, then the cross section of the channel is
revealed. To illustrate, if you miniaturize

yourself and travel Sci-Fi style into a microchannel, then the cross section is the frame you
would see when you are looking along the channel? This could be a square, rectangle, circle,
semi-circle, or trapezoid.
Design Tips: Avoid circular cross section. The microfluidic channels are made by
layering. This means to make a circular cross section, two semi-circular channels need to be
perfectly aligned on top of each other. Avoid semi circular cross section as much as
possible too. Most microfluidic molds are made using etching, lithography, electroplating,
CNC micromilling. It is very very difficult to obtain rounded cross sections. Avoid
trapezoids. In your microfluidic design if the cross section has a slope along the channel
width (varying depth), be worried. Larger channels with such trapezoidal cross section might
be built using CNC micromilling, but most microfluidic channel cannot be made with such
slanted bottoms. Best cross section: rectangle, or square. Avoid too wide
microfluidic channel or too narrow channels. A very wide channel in which the width is
much larger than the depth, would cause problems during bonding and sealing. In this case,
the channel top and bottom might collapse on each other, and close the channel. On the other
hand, a too narrow channel is created when the width is much smaller than the depth. Too
narrow microchannel design causes de-molding issues. This means the mold would get stuck
deep in the microfluidic channel and would either break upon ejection or damage the
microchannel. The best rectangular cross section for microfluidic channels’ manufacture is
a square. For example a 50um wide channel that is 50um deep!
Longitudinal Profile of the Microfluidic Channel
Longitudinal profile relates to how the depth varies along the microfluidic channel.
In most cases in Microfluidics the depth is

constant. As an example, where all channels have 100um depth. But the depth may also need
to change from inlet to outlet. For example when depth changes like a slope from 100um to
200um. Or changes step-wise , eg is 100um until a junction and then becomes 200um to the
end. A microfluidic channel with constant depth needs a single layer mold, while the above
two step channel requires a two-layer mold. There is often confusion when clients
communicate with the manufacturer about multi-layer stuff. A “three layer mold” is different
from a “three layer microfluidic device”. A 3-layer microfluidic device means the device is
made of three physical layers. For example a PET membrane that is sandwiched between two
PDMS layers. While a 3-layer mold means, there are 3 different steps of depth in the
microchannels. This device, however, can be as simple as a single layer of PDMS sealed with
a glass microscope slide.
Design Tips: Keep the depth along the channels constant as much as possible. If there
is a need to change the depth then do it stepwise. Less steps is better, and corresponds to
lower fabrication cost. Avoid ramps by all means, such as a 50um deep channel that
linearly becomes 100um at the end. Such profiles may be made using CNC machining, but
CNC machining is not a choice when thing get truly microfluidic!
What Are Other Considerations when Designing

Microfluidic Channels?
Draft Angle is Important for Microfluidic Channel Fabrication
Draft Angle relates to how vertical the microchannel walls are made for ease of fabrication.
A perfectly vertical means there is no draft.
Design Tips: A Positive draft angle helps the tooling come out of the part easily, which is
good (figure). A negative draft angle causes the tool to get stuck, jammed and cause
headache. Negative draft must be avoided in all type of casting parts, including injection
molding, laminating, or embossing of microfluidic channels. PDMS parts are elastomer
and tolerate zero draft molds, but thermoplastic casting process would suffer from it.

Can Microfluidic Channels be Stacked on Top of Each Other?
The simple answer is “yes”, but they need to be stacked from large width to narrow (from the
parts surface). Molds for such microfluidic parts are usually

made using multi step lithography or DRIE for regular microfluidic channels, or CNC micro
machining for larger channels. The opposite to this case, is when channels are stacked such
that they become wider as move away from the surface (figure). Although these molds could
be made using sacrificial layers or 3D printing, but the casting process would suffer during
demolding.
Design Tips: Overhung microfluidic channels or features must be avoided by all means.
Does the Microchannel Geometry Affect Pressure Built Up in the Microfluidic

Channel?
Two factors directly affect the pressure in the microfluidic channels. 1) Flow rate. Fast flow
creates high pressure builds up at and around the inlet ports. It is a simple linear relationship;
meaning double the flow rate, get doubled pressure. 2) The geometry of microfluidic
channels. Longer channels create higher pressure. Similar to the flow rate effect, this is also
linear. This means if pressure at the inlet is 1 Bar for a 10mm channel, it will be more or less
about 2 Bars if the channel length is increased to 20mm. This statement assumes the flow rate
and the channel cross section is the same in both cases. The cross section of the channel also
affects the amount of pressure built up. Smaller cross section causes higher pressure. This
means pressure at the inlet port of a 100umx100um cross section channel is higher than a
200umx200um channel, for the same flow rates and channel length. Unfortunately the
relationship is not simple and linear. The relationship of pressure to the cross section depends
on things like boundary layer effect and other jargons, but uFluidix engineers have created an
online calculator to estimate the pressure for different fluid viscosity, flow rates, and channel
geometries.
Why Pressure in the Microfluidic Channel Is So Important?
There are several reasons, but the top two reasons are: 1) Bursting. Too much pressure built
up could cause the microfluidic channel to delaminate or fracture depending on how strong
the bonding is. It could also cause the tubing to pop, or connections to burst or leak. As a
general rule relative pressure in PDMs chips should be kept below 2Bars (200kPa, or 9 psi),
and under 3Bars (13.5 psi) as a Maximum of all Maximums. Thermoplastic chips could
take more pressure of up to 10 Bars in rare situations, but question would be if the
tubing/connection could hold! 2) Microparticles’ pressure tolerance. The second reason the
pressure is important in microfluidic channels is the safety and well being of the
micropartciles such as cell or droplets. One should always pay attention to how much
pressure is too much. For example if a tumor cell is supposed to be alive after trapping, what
is the maximum pressure allowed?
I Must Have Small Cross Section for my Device to Work, How Do I Avoid
High Pressure?
Design Tip. Often there are areas that must be small, such as flow focusing junctions,
filters, traps, etc. This doesn’t mean the whole channel network need to be small. Using a
two-layer mold is your answer. To illustrate, if a junction must be 10umx10um, the rest of
microchannel from inlet to just before the junction, and from after the junction to the outlet
could be made as a 100umx100um cross section. This could reduce the pressure at the inlet
few hundred times! A two layer mold is costlier than a single layer (constant depth) one, but
solves the problem.
Avoid This Popular Microfluidic Channel Design

Mistake
Often the designers of Microfluidics make the channels too long, unnecessarily. For example
if the area of interest is 10mm (about half an inch) long, there is no need to have a 100 mm
channel (4 inches). A total of 25mm (one inch) channel would be enough in this case. This
small change would reduce the pressure to about 1/4 in this case.

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Does cleaning glass-slide help for better PDMS-glass bonding?

Facing trouble (bonding-leakage) while using hand-pressure to pass liquid through my

Geometry of Microfluidic Channels. Design Tips

Top-view of the Microfluidic Chip

Manufacturer uses this drawing or image to

revealed. To illustrate, if you miniaturize

Longitudinal Profile of the Microfluidic Channel

In most cases in Microfluidics the depth is

What Are Other Considerations when Designing

A perfectly vertical means there is no draft.

Can Microfluidic Channels be Stacked on Top of Each Other?

parts surface). Molds for such microfluidic parts are usually

Does the Microchannel Geometry Affect Pressure Built Up in the Microfluidic

Why Pressure in the Microfluidic Channel Is So Important?

Avoid This Popular Microfluidic Channel Design

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