Thermoplastics are highly attractive substrate materials for microfluidic systems, with important benefits in the development of low cost disposable devices for a host of bioanalytical applications. While significant research activity has been directed towards the formation of microfluidic components in a wide range of thermoplastics, sealing of these components is required for the formation of...

A unique technique for the rapid fabrication of thermoplastic microfluidic chips is described. The method enables the realization of fully-sealed microchannels in around one hour while requiring only minimal infrastructure by taking advantage of a solvent swelling mechanism that allows raised features to be patterned on the surface of homogeneous thermoplastic materials. Patterning is achieved ...

Thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) are a special class of thermoplastic elastomers, which are produced by simultaneously mixing and crosslinking a rubber with a thermoplastic polymer at an elevated temperature. Peroxide-cured TPVs based on blends of silicone rubber and thermoplastic Engage of two different types, mainly ethylene-octene and ethylenebutene copolymers at different blend ratios have...

A facile method enabling the integration of elastomeric valves into rigid thermoplastic microfluidic chips is described. The valves employ discrete plugs of elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) integrated into the thermoplastic substrate and actuated using a threaded stainless steel needle. The fabrication process takes advantage of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as a sacrificial molding materi...

We report the design and synthesis of a polymer structure from a cross-linkable epoxy-ionic liquid system which behaves like a hard and brittle epoxy thermoset, perfectly ductile thermoplastic and an elastomer, all depending on controllable network compositions.

Thermoplastic use as labyrinth seals in rotating equipment is continuing to gain acceptance in the process industries. Presented in this paper is a discussion on thermoplastic use as a labyrinth seal material in centrifugal process compressors. Labyrinths made from engineering thermoplastics are used to improve efficiency, reliability, and installation time. An introduction to the polymer mater...

In this paper we discuss newly developed microfabrication methods for liquid crystal polymer (LCP). LCP is a thermoplastic polymer made of aligned molecule chains with crystal-like spatial regularity. It exhibits unique electrical, physical and chemical properties, making it suitable for certain MEMS applications. MEMS-compatible fabrication processes such as metallization, plasma bulk etching ...

Currently, numerous research groups have explored the production and properties of biocomposites where the polymer matrices are derived from renewable resources such as poly lactide (PLA), thermoplastic starch (TPS), cellulose and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). This review is carried out to evaluate the development and properties of natural fibre reinforced biodegradable polymer composites. They...

Completely bio-based poly(limonene carbonate) is a thermoplastic polymer, which can be synthesized by copolymerization of limonene oxide (derived from limonene, which is found in orange peel) and CO2. Poly(limonene carbonate) has one double bond per repeating unit that can be exploited for further chemical modifications. These chemical modifications allow the tuning of the properties of the ali...

Plastics have prominent utilization worldwide. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is one of the major types of plastics that can be found in the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) [1]. MSW contains high proportion of thermoplastic polymers which has been increasing in value. PET is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer, and is considered as polyester material [2]. Large amount of waste PET is being p...