Chemical resistance of Millifluidic Devices?

Has anyone tried a long-term soak in 10% bleach or ethanol? Any wear/degradation?

Most fluidic components used in eVOLVER are made from glass (borosilicate), silicone rubber (tubing, millifluidic membrane), polypropylene (barbed connectors, leur connectors), or nylon (3D printed vial caps). In general, most of those components are very resilient to bleach or ethanol.

The millifluidic devices are currently not made with these materials, meaning you have to be careful about material choice of the device. Acrylic (PMMA) devices are easier to fabricate and pattern via laser cutting, but known to crack and dissolve when exposed to alcohols (even 70% EtOH). We alternatively fabricate devices that need repeated or long-term exposure to bleach and ethanol with PETG. These have been robust when tested but no strict characterization has been made. The main concern would probably be the bonding between layers on the millifluidic device.

1 Like