Photoprocessible thermo-sensitive gel actuator for functional microfluidic devices

We present an innovative polymer actuator made of photoprocessible thermo-sensitive gel. The gel, which we call "Bioresist", is thermoresponsible biocompatible photoresist. Novelties of this Bioresist are shown as follows. It is possible to fabricate arbitrary 2D pattern using photolithography. Its volume is controlled by only heating. Therefore, it can be applied to the thermally controllable functional microfluidic devices. Herein, we demonstrated this innovative gel as applications of microfluidc components controlled by microheaters. Its properties were evaluated. Firstly, the relationship between expansion rate of Bioresist and temperature was measured. Secondly, the normally closed microvalve was fabricated for the fluid control. Then, the performance of the gel was evaluated. Finally, we applied this microcomponent to the sorter for cells flowing in the microchannel.