Photopolymerization of a perfluoropolyether oligomer and photolithographic processes for the fabrication of microfluidic devices

A perfluoropolyether based photocured polymer is proposed as structural material for the fabrication and easy prototyping of microfluidic devices. The kinetics of photopolymerization and the fluoropolymer characterization is reported, assessing the suitability of the material: it results transparent, thermally resistant, with a good dimensional stability and a chemical resistance much higher than polydimethylsiloxane, material currently used in microfluidics. The direct fabrication of microchannels is finally presented by direct photopolymerization under UV light irradiation through photomasks: the transfer of micropatterns was successful.