Practical approach for macroporous structure embedded microfluidic system and the catalytic microchemical application

Abstract

We present a low cost and practical approach to integrate 3D ordered macroporous polyfluoropolyether (PFPE) patterns into a microchannel by a series of porous pattern fabrication processes and subsequent photolithography in a site- and shape-selective manner. The 3D ordered macroporous patterns with high-resolution edges were firstly fabricated by microtransfer molding (m-TM) of the sacrificial polystyrene (PS) template infiltrated with PFPE as a non-adhesive and solvent-resistant skeletal material. The resulting robust PFPE porous structures with high solvent resistance on a silicon wafer can easily be embedded into the microchannel with the aid of conventional photolithography, leading to a microfluidic system with a built-in microstructure. Moreover, catalytic Pd nanoparticles implanted on the surface of the porous structure were obtained by use of Pd nanoparticle deposited PS spheres, the porous structure embedded channel was utilized to perform a Suzuki coupling reaction.