2024 | Joseph Rich, Brian Cole, Teng Li, Brandon Lu, Hanyu Fu, Brittany N. Smith, Jianping Xiao, Shujie Yang, Ruoyu Zhong, James L. Doherty, Kanji Kaneko, Hiroaki Suzuki, Zhenhua Tian, Aaron D. Franklin, Tony Jun Huang
The paper presents a novel approach to fabricating surface acoustic wave (SAW) microfluidic devices using aerosol jet printing, a rapid and maskless additive manufacturing technique. This method simplifies the complex and time-consuming cleanroom fabrication processes typically required for SAW microfluidic devices. The authors successfully fabricated SAW microfluidic devices with varying materials, including silver nanowires, graphene, and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). The acoustic performance of these devices was characterized using scanning laser Doppler vibrometry, and their functionality was demonstrated through acoustic streaming and particle concentration experiments. The results show that the aerosol jet-printed devices exhibit comparable acoustic displacement and resonant frequencies to cleanroom-fabricated devices, despite significant reductions in fabrication time and complexity. This work highlights the potential of aerosol jet printing as a versatile and efficient method for developing SAW microfluidic devices with applications in biology, chemistry, engineering, and medicine.The paper presents a novel approach to fabricating surface acoustic wave (SAW) microfluidic devices using aerosol jet printing, a rapid and maskless additive manufacturing technique. This method simplifies the complex and time-consuming cleanroom fabrication processes typically required for SAW microfluidic devices. The authors successfully fabricated SAW microfluidic devices with varying materials, including silver nanowires, graphene, and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). The acoustic performance of these devices was characterized using scanning laser Doppler vibrometry, and their functionality was demonstrated through acoustic streaming and particle concentration experiments. The results show that the aerosol jet-printed devices exhibit comparable acoustic displacement and resonant frequencies to cleanroom-fabricated devices, despite significant reductions in fabrication time and complexity. This work highlights the potential of aerosol jet printing as a versatile and efficient method for developing SAW microfluidic devices with applications in biology, chemistry, engineering, and medicine.