Rapid Prototyping with Polymers

After the patterns on these polymer films are transferred into photoresist films coated on silicon substrates using photolithography, the developed photoresist patterns can serve as a master to make the required PDMS stamps. By combining this method of rapid prototyping with soft lithographic techniques, we can fabricate patterned microstructures of polymers and metals within 24 h of the time that the design is completed. Rapid prototyping makes it possible to produce substantial numbers of simple microstructures rapidly and inexpensively. 

This chapter evaluates the possibility of employing SPIF, currently utilised in metals, in the production of rapid prototypes and polymer sheet parts at room temperature, with large drawing angles and forming depths. 

As a cheap, recyclable construction material for micro reactors with sufficient short-term chemical resistance, polymers were explicitly mentioned. A further argument for the use of polymers is that for this material flexible computer-aided rapid prototyping methods are available in order to produce reactor components of complex shapes at moderate cost. The low thermal stability of polymers, however, demands advanced heating concepts when carrying out high-temperature reactions. 

Three-dimensional printing 3D printing or 3DP) is a rapid prototyping (RP) technique that was developed in 1992 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) [109]. In contrast to 3D plotting of hot polymer melts, 3DP uses CAD models that can be obtained with a personal computer [110]. 3DP is a layered fabrication process in which a layer of powder is spread onto the powder bed on which the model will be created. Then a print head ejects... 

Fig. 14. Scaffold fabrication using rapid prototyped negative replica (a) A computergenerated 3-D negative replica of a scaffold with a cubical pore shape (b) the negative replica of the scaffold fabricated using a rapid prototyping machine (c) the polymer scaffold fabricated using the negative replica (d) SEM micrograph of the internal pore structure of the generated scaffold (V. J. Chen and P. X. Ma, unpublished data, 2003).

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