Development of automated corona discharge treatment system for material surfaces used in microfluidic systems

In this paper, we propose an automated system for processing microfluidic system (MFS) materials by corona discharge based on the Darsonval device in combination with numerical control for precise positioning of the working electrode. Automation of the process ensures uniform surface modification, which improves adhesion and reduces the risk of defects in multilayer MFS, the functional layers of which are connected by thermocompression bonding. The software allows setting the shape and size of the workpiece for the material being processed, as well as regulating the processing speed. Technical solutions are proposed that ensure protection of the device from interference caused by the corona discharge generator. Experimental results have shown that corona discharge treatment effectively reduces the surface wetting angles of polymeric materials widely used in microfluidics technology, which is important for microfluidic applications. The developed automated system also reduces production time costs and ensures higher reproducibility, significantly reducing the influence of the human factor during microfabrication, which is especially important for small-scale prototyping of MFS.

Authors: M. A. Lysyuk, M. A. Shubina, V. V. Gulvansky, D. I. Kaplun, M. Yu. Shestopalov, N. O. Sitkov

Direction: Informatics, Computer Technologies And Control

Keywords: microfluidics, material processing, automated systems, contact angle, electromagnetic interference, microcontrollers, numerical control

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