The field of complex microfluidic channels is rapidly expanding toward channels with variable cross-sections (i.e., beyond simple rounded channels with a constant diameter), as well as channels whose trajectory can be outside of a single plane. This paper introduces the use of three-dimensional (3D) printed soluble wax as cast molds for rapid fabrication of truly arbitrary microfluidic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels that are not achieved through typical soft lithography. The molds are printed directly from computer-aided design files, followed by simple dissolution using a solvent after molding PDMS, making rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices possible in hours. As part of the fabrication method, the solubility of several build materials in solvents and their effect on PDMS were investigated to remove the 3D-printed molds from inside the replicated PDMS microfluidic channels without damage. Technology limits, including surface roughness and resolution by comparing the designed channels with fabricated cylindrical channels with various diameters, are also characterized. We reproduced a 3D image of an actual human cerebral artery as cerebral artery-shaped PDMS channels with a diameter of 240 μm to prove the developed fabrication technique. It was confirmed that the fabricated vascular channels were free from any leakage by observing the fluorescence fluid fill.

A micro, soft bellow actuator, which is fabricated using a biocompatible material (polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)) and operates in a pneumatic manner that is harmless to the living body, has been experimentally validated using 3D-printed soluble molds and supports. Typical planar microfabrication techniques for flexible pneumatic actuators with complex geometries generally have inherent design limitations owing to the manner in which 2D thin films are stacked and require multiple lithographic and alignment steps. In this study, micro bellow actuators with 3D structures that cannot be fabricated using the existing softlithography techniques were designed by simulating the mechanical behavior of the actuator based on the nonlinear elastic properties of PDMS. The subsequently designed 3D-printed soluble-mold technique was used to fabricate the bellow actuators with a 10 µ m resolution, while taking into consideration the printing quality, which depends on the printing direction and layer thickness of the 3D printer. On evaluating the operating performance, the micro bellow actuator showed a displacement of 1540 µ m at the applied pneumatic pressure of 60 kPa and can apply a force of 0.14 N. Even after 10 000 repetitive operations, the change in the operating characteristic was less than 0.44%. It was also demonstrated that fast prototyping of actuators within 48 h is possible without any process revision, even with variable design changes or other soft polymer materials. The reported fabrication technique is a superior approach for fabricating 3D, sealed, soft pneumatic actuators for micro, soft robot applications.

Flexible capacitive humidity sensors are promising for low-cost, wearable, and radio frequency identification sensors, but their nonlinear response is an important issue for practical applications. Herein, the linearity of humidity response was controlled by surface water wettability and operating frequency of sensor, and the mechanism was explained in detail by surface water condensation. For a sensor with a Ag interdigitated electrode (IDE) on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate, the capacitance showed a small linear increase with humidity up to 70% RH but a large nonlinear increase in the higher range. The response linearity was increased by a hydrophobic surface treatment of self-assembled monolayer coating while it was decreased by an ultraviolet/ozone irradiation for hydrophilicity. It was also increased by increasing the frequency in the range of 1–100 kHz, more prominently on a more hydrophilic surface. Based on experiment and simulation, the increase in sensor capacitance was greatly dependent on the geometric pattern (e.g., size, number, and contact angle) and electrical permittivity of surface water droplets. A larger and more nonlinear humidity response resulted from a larger increase in the number of droplets with a smaller contact angle on a sensor surface with higher water wettability and also from a higher permittivity of water at a lower frequency.