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I think it depends on what you mean by "fine" - your
resolution on a standard printer would be maybe 50-
100µm. |
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There are certainly ways to "print" patterns of
hydrophobic/hydrophilic coatings - this is usually
done using photolithography with a
photoactivateable (or photocleavable) reagent. |
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"At small scales (channel diameters of around 100
nanometers to several hundred micrometers) some
interesting and sometimes unintuitive properties appear."
---
wikipedia |
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Seems like the laser printer would just skirt along this
definition. Being that 50-100um wide channel, would still
be pretty small (and within the hundred micrometers
range). |
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Obviously not practical for nanofluidics... unless we could
print on a shrinkable substrate? |
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Yes, there are certainly plenty of µflu devices with
100µm or larger features. |
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However, photomask printing down to a resolution
of
a few microns on polyester film is very cheap; or
you
can get chrome-on-glass printing down to 1 micron
resolution. And, given the number of devices you
can fit on a sheet, it's not a big expense. But then
of
course you're doing photolithography rather than
direct printing of features. |
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Coincidentally, my old PhD supervisor tells me he's
come up with a way to make µflu devices very
cheaply and very quickly. I'm going to see him
mid-January so, if you remember, ask me then and
I'll tell you what he's up to. |
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[Max] That sounds a bit mean, saying you will spill even before you know the status of the information. Can't you keep secrets? |
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It seems to me that this would still need to come in a home kit containing hydrophobic ink, paper substitute and reagents for the specific experiment needed to be run. (+ printer software) |
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What is this? A cocktails for ants? |
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Perforated paper that tears up to stamp sized lickable cocktails. |
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//That sounds a bit mean, saying you will spill even
before you know the status of the information. Can't
you keep secrets? // Naturally, if it's unpatented
and unpublished, my lips are sealed. But I got the
impression it's already been through patenting. |
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All good then. Sounds like you just the man for the Ad campaign. |
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[update] I'm just back from seeing my old PhD
supervisor, who has indeed found a way to make
microfluidic devices which is fantastically fast,
cheap, simple and flexible. |
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However, he doesn't yet have patents filed, so you'll
just have to wait a little longer... |
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