Polymer micro-fluidic devices: hot embossing of topas® using molds made of different materials

Abstract

In the field of hot embossing of polymers for microfluidic devices, there is a lack of research into the performance of molds (dies) made of silicon, epoxy and TOPAS® COC grade 6017 (polymer of higher Tg) under identical experimental conditions, although all 3 materials have a set of promising advantages and are all easy to fabricate. This project explores the performance of silicon, epoxy and TOPAS® COC grade 6017 molds used to create micro-channels on TOPAS® COC grade 8007 substrates by the hot embossing method. In the subsequent part of the paper, the author takes into consideration thermal conductivity and mold thickness differences between the silicon and epoxy molds, an additional step of preheating is thus introduced. The results indicate that epoxy is the ideal choice for molds meant for the hot embossing. Generally, the author finds evidence that epoxy has low adhesion between the mold and substrate and the lowest surface roughness, is rugged and the most cost-efficient to mass fabricate.