Over the past decade, thermoplastics have been used as alternative substrates to glass and Si for microfluidic devices because of the diverse and robust fabrication protocols available for thermoplastics that can generate high production rates of the desired structures at low cost and with high replication fidelity, the extensive array of physiochemical properties they possess, and the simple s...

Background: The accuracy and the reproducibility of radiotherapy can be provided by using immobilization devices such as thermoplastic masks. In head and neck cancer radiotherapy, the patients are mostly immobilized by using thermoplastic masks. In this study, the effect of the thermoplastic mask to the surface and buildup region doses was investigated by using Markus parallel plate ion chamber...

In the development of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs), computational prediction of material properties is of great advantages in achieving rational and cost-effective design. This paper introduces a new multiscale hierarchical approach specifically tailored for PNCs property prediction. Due to its distinct features of generality and comprehensiveness, the introduced methodology outperforms most e...

We present here a novel microchamber sealing valve that is self-actuated by a pressure change during the temperature change in the thermal activation of reactions. Actuation of our valve requires only the use of the same heating device as employed for the reactions. A thermoplastic UV-curable polymer is used as a device material; the polymer allows realization of the temperature-driven valve ac...

Revealing the way of how modification of the chemical structure of a polymer affects its macroscopic physical properties offers an opportunity to develop novel polymer materials with pre-defined characteristics. To address this problem two thermoplastic polyimides, ULTEM and EXTEM, were simulated with small difference in chemical structures of monomer units, namely, the phenyl ring in ULTEM was...

We present a polymer based microfluidic dye laser suitable for integration into micro total analysis systems, fabricated by nanoimprint lithography (NIL) [1] in the thermoplastic polymer COC (cyclo olefin copolymer) [2]. The device (se figure 1 and 2) consists of microfluidic channels, with sizes ranging from several mm down to 16 μm, and optical waveguides, all fabricated in one single NIL ste...

We have developed a novel composite film fabrication process that utilizes the soft lithographic approach, Particle Replication in Nonwetting Templates (PRINT). This process was found to be a very viable approach to the fabrication of well-structured, multifunctional polymer composite thin films. Particle aggregation was completely eliminated as discretely molded particles with specific shape, ...

This review focuses on the factors that determine the molecular weight of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), an aliphatic polyester synthesized by bacteria for carbon and energy storage. PHA is a polymer with good thermoplastic, biodegradable, biocompatible and renewable properties. Therefore, it has attracted considerable attention as an environmentally friendly and biomedical material. Because the m...

We demonstrate that fabrication of well-defined nanofluidic systems can be greatly simplified by injection molding of thermoplastic polymers. Chips featuring nanochannel arrays, microchannels and integrated interconnects are produced in a single processing step by injection molding. The resulting open channel structures are subsequently sealed by facile plasma-enhanced thermal bonding of a poly...