The 10th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences ( TAS2006)
November 5-9, 2006, Tokyo, Japan
4-9903269-0-3-C3043 © 2006 Society for Chemistry and Micro-Nano Systems
179
SOLVENT-RESISTANT AND TRANSPARENT
POLYSILAZANE GLASS MICROFLUIDICS FOR
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
Hong-Joo Lee, Amit Asthana, Jayakumar Perumal, Jun-Hong Park,
Dong-Pyo Kim*
School of Applied Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Chungnam National
University, Daejeon 305-764, Korea, E-Mail: dpkim@cnu.ac.kr
Abstract
The microfabrication of ceramic material having thermal, chemical, and tribological
stability is an inevitable demand for the devices in the fields of microfluidics. The study
describes the preparation of micro/nano-sized patterns and microfluidic channels using soft
lithographic technique from the UV and thermally cured preceramic polymer for the
applicable potentials of the photochemical reaction.
Keywords: Soft lithography, Microfluidics, Polysilazane glass
1. Introduction
Soft lithography with elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold has been
significantly facilitated for the micropattern transfer and fabrication of microfluidics in
simple and efficient manners [1]. Among soft lithographic techniques, it is known that the
imprint lithography makes it possible fabricate micro- or nanopatterns at high resolution,
high throughput and low cost and can be applied to the fabrication of various shapes such
as curved surfaces [2]. The preceramic polymer is heat-treated or pyrolyzed at ~1000
o
C to
convert it to a monolithic ceramic part for the useful potential of non-oxide ceramic MEMS
(Microelectromechanical Systems). However, the polymer undergoes linear shrinkage of
about 30 % during the heat treatment. Also, adhesion to a substrate during this stage can
cause cracking or fracture as well as reduction of density [3]. It is suggested that the
conversion of preceramic polymers into the cured polymers can be used for
microfabrication because of low shrinkage compared with ceramic materials. As far as we
know, the microfabrication of the cured polymer is rarely reported.
In our present study, we have successfully fabricated the polysilazane glass
microfluidics with high optical transparency, thermal stability and chemical inertness via
simple fabrication process using a commercially available preceramic polymer. Also, it was
clearly shown that the fabrication of microchannels using the cured inorganic polymers
holds tremendous potentials in the field of photochemical reaction.