Microfluidics which is also called lab-on-a-chip is a fast-growing and widely used technology in many research areas. There are some advantages of microfluidics such as lower reagent consumption, shorter time of experiments, more accurate operation, and multiple analysis simultaneously. Traditional fabrication method of microfluidic system is soft lithography. Recently, additive manufacturing, usually known as 3D printing, is also widely used to fabricate microfluidic system. This thesis is focused on microfluidic system fabrication and exploration of their application.

In the first project, a droplet based digital RPA ( ddRPA) microfluidic system was fabricated. Then the system was used to quantify the concentration of COVID-19 Orf1ab-crRNA. The concentration of template can...[ Read more ]

Microfluidics which is also called lab-on-a-chip is a fast-growing and widely used technology in many research areas. There are some advantages of microfluidics such as lower reagent consumption, shorter time of experiments, more accurate operation, and multiple analysis simultaneously. Traditional fabrication method of microfluidic system is soft lithography. Recently, additive manufacturing, usually known as 3D printing, is also widely used to fabricate microfluidic system. This thesis is focused on microfluidic system fabrication and exploration of their application.

In the first project, a droplet based digital RPA ( ddRPA) microfluidic system was fabricated. Then the system was used to quantify the concentration of COVID-19 Orf1ab-crRNA. The concentration of template can be calculated with fraction of positive droplets by Poisson statistical analysis. This ddRPA system provides huge potential for highly sensitive and efficient detection of nucleic acid. In the second project, an agarose base long-range concentration gradient generation microfluidic system was fabricated. The gradient distance extended the distance to few centimeters which is ten times comparing with traditional method. The concentration gradient generated by this system shown high linearity. This long-range concentration gradient generator is possible and may be used in many areas that need long range and accurate gradient. In the third project, A series of 3D hierarchical topography biomimicking structures were printed such as lotus hierarchical structure, double reentrants cavities, rose petal, and cicada wings structure. A Two-photon polymerization-based 3D printer was used to fabricate high resolution 3D structures. The resolution of these structures was less to 1 μm. Then these structures were used to mold with Teflon to test further superhydrophobic properties.