Recent developments in digital light processing 3D-printing techniques for microfluidic analytical devices

Ali Amini; Rosanne M Guijt; Thomas Themelis; Jelle De Vos; Sebastiaan Eeltink

doi:10.1016/j.chroma.2023.463842

Recent developments in digital light processing 3D-printing techniques for microfluidic analytical devices

J Chromatogr A. 2023 Mar 15:1692:463842. doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2023.463842. Epub 2023 Feb 1.

Authors

Ali Amini¹, Rosanne M Guijt², Thomas Themelis¹, Jelle De Vos¹, Sebastiaan Eeltink³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, Brussels B-1050, Belgium.
² Centre for Regional and Rural Futures, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, Brussels B-1050, Belgium. Electronic address: seeltink@vub.be.

PMID: 36745962
DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2023.463842

Abstract

Digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing is rapidly advancing and has emerged as a powerful additive manufacturing approach to fabricate analytical microdevices. DLP 3D-printing utilizes a digital micromirror device to direct the projected light and photopolymerize a liquid resin, in a layer-by-layer approach. Advances in vat and lift design, projector technology, and resin composition, allow accurate fabrication of microchannel structures as small as 18 × 20 µm. This review describes the latest advances in DLP 3D-printing technology with respect to instrument set-up and resin formulation and highlights key efforts to fabricate microdevices targeting emerging (bio-)analytical chemistry applications, including colorimetric assays, extraction, and separation.

Keywords: Digital light projection; Microchannel fabrication; Photopolymerization; Resin formulation; Stereolithography.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Drug Delivery Systems
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices
Microfluidics*
Printing, Three-Dimensional*