Micromolding

Figure 15. Hierarchical structure formed by combining liquid-phase templating with micromolding. (Reprinted with permission from ref 166. Copyright 1998 American Association for the Advancement of Science.)...

M.L. Kovarik, N.J. Torrence, D.M. Spence and R.S. Martin, Fabrication of carbon microelectrodes with a micromolding technique and their use in microchip-based flow analyses, Analyst, 129 (2004) 400-405. 

The procedure for micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC) for fabricating the microstructure of polymeric materials has been reported [155-157], Vacuum-assisted MIMIC was later reported. These methods are essentially casting a soft curable polymer against a mold [158],... 

FIGURE 2.24 Example of a stack of micromolded PU structures viewed by (a) optical microscopy or (b) micro-computer tomography. Scale bar = 1 mm [160]. Reprinted with permission from Springer Science and Business Media. 

Shim HW, Lee JH, Hwang TS et al (2007) Patterning of proteins and cells on functionalized surfaces prepared by polyelectrolyte multilayers and micromolding in capillaries. Biosens Bioelectron 22(12) 3188-3195... 

An excellent example that shows the potential of combining various bottom-up techniques is the joint work by Whitesides and Stucky [4]. Hierarchical metallic oxides were produced by combining (i) sol-gel self-assembly of neutral surfactants, (ii) spherical polystyrene templates, and (iii) molds with micrometric cavities (micromolding). Figure 3.12 shows how the described materials are hierarchically organized at several scales ranging from a few nanometers to hundreds of micrometers. 

The as-synthesized amine intercalated VO, nanolubes could be aligned on glass substrates by using micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC).86 An elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp where parallel capillaries of 5 pm were patterned was used as the mould.86 The capillaries were filled with a VO, nanotube suspension in octanol. After evaporation of the solvent and removal of the mould, long lines of assemblies of well aligned nanotubes were obtained. 

Micromolding is precision molding of extremely small parts and components usually in engineering plastics unfilled, filled, and/or reinforced. Parts usually weigh less than 20 milligrams (0.020 g), with some even less that 0.1 mg in products as small as one mm3. Products are measured in microns and have tolerances of 10 microns or less. A micron (pm) is one-millionth of a meter 25.4 pm make up one-... 

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