Comparison of Surface Characteristics According to 3D Printing Methods and Materials for the Fabrication of Microfluidic Systems

In this study, basic research was conducted to provide guidelines for selecting printers and materials suitable for each application case by analyzing 3D printing method and surface characteristics of materials suitable for microfluidic system. We have studied the surface characteristics according to the materials for the two typical printing methods: The most commonly used method of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printing and the relatively high resolution method of Stereolithography (SLA) printing. The FDM prints exhibited hydrophilic properties before post - treatment, regardless of the material, but showed hydrophobic properties after post - treatment with acetone vapor. It was confirmed by the observation of surface roughness using SEM that the change of the contact angle was due to the removal of the surface structure by post-treatment. SLA prints exhibited hydrophilic properties compared to FDM prints, but they were experimentally confirmed to be capable of surface modification using hydrophobic coatings. It was confirmed that it is impossible to make a transparent specimen in the FDM method. However, sufficient transparency is secured in the case of the SLA method. It is also confirmed that the electroporation chip of the digital electroporation system based on the droplet contact charging phenomenon was fabricated by the SLA method and the direct application to the microfluidic system by demonstrating the electroporation successfully.