Enhancing microscale printing accuracy in LCD-based 3D printing using an immobilized release film

Abstract

With the development of 3D printing technology, liquid crystal display (LCD)-based 3D printing offers a cost-effective solution for microfluidic device fabrication, yet its microscale precision remains limited. The accuracy of printing molds can be improved by reducing the adhesion force between the cured resin and release film. However, the adhesion force between the LCD screen and release film and the deformation of the release film in the separation process are still ignored. Herein, we propose using an immobilized release film to enhance the printing accuracy in microscale printing for microfabrication. By applying transparent double-sided adhesive tape between the LCD screen and release film, the movement and deformation of the release film can be reduced, the vertical accuracy in the process of microscale 3D printing can be improved, and the error rate in height can be reduced from 20% to 5%. By studying the printing effect under different layer heights, it was found that when the layer height was set as 20–30 μm, the printed micromold matched the design features in both size and side structure. Moreover, microstructures less than 30 μm in width can be obtained. Besides, the reproducibility of the immobilized release film across different resins was confirmed. Furthermore, microfluidic chips used in concentration gradient generation can be obtained with a minimum cross section of 204 μm. Finally, we used the printed mold to fabricate a PDMS chip in the study of silicosis and the preventive effect of NAC in silicosis. Moreover, the mechanism of the preventive effect of NAC was studied. We believe that our fabrication technique with an immobilized release film will facilitate the development of microfluidic technology, and expand the scope and application of microfluidics in research and applications in diverse fields, such as analytical biochemistry, pharmaceuticals, and medicine.