Three-Dimensional Large-Scale Fused Silica Microfluidic Chips Enabled by Hybrid Laser Microfabrication for Continuous-Flow UV Photochemical Synthesis

• Published in: Micromachines (Basel) 2022-03, Vol.13 (4), p.543
• Main Authors: Zhang, Aodong, Xu, Jian, Li, Yucen, Hu, Ming, Lin, Zijie, Song, Yunpeng, Qi, Jia, Chen, Wei, Liu, Zhaoxiang, Cheng, Ya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3D glass microfluidics; Carbon dioxide; carbon dioxide laser processing; Carbon dioxide lasers; Chemical etching; Continuous flow; continuous-flow photochemical synthesis; Etching; Fused silica; Lasers; Microfluidics; Micromixing; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Reactors; Silica glass; Synthesis; ultrafast laser direct writing; Ultrafast lasers; Ultraviolet radiation; Writing
• ISSN: 2072-666X; 2072-666X
• DOI: 10.3390/mi13040543

We demonstrate a hybrid laser microfabrication approach, which combines the technical merits of ultrafast laser-assisted chemical etching and carbon dioxide laser-induced in situ melting for centimeter-scale and bonding-free fabrication of 3D complex hollow microstructures in fused silica glass. With the developed approach, large-scale fused silica microfluidic chips with integrated 3D cascaded micromixing units can be reliably manufactured. High-performance on-chip mixing and continuous-flow photochemical synthesis under UV irradiation at ~280 nm were demonstrated using the manufactured chip, indicating a powerful capability for versatile fabrication of highly transparent all-glass microfluidic reactors for on-chip photochemical synthesis.