Patent Application
20230286799
This patent application claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application CN202011622362.6 filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on Dec. 30, 2020, and entitled “Manufacturing method for 3D Microelectrode”, the disclosure of which are entirely incorporated by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to the preparation of electrodes, and in particular relates to a manufacturing method for a 3D microelectrode.
Electrochemical study is an analysis method for characterization and measurement by using the electrochemical properties of substances. By employing the electrochemical analysis method, not only can the analysis result be automatically recorded, but also the detection of trace substances, including glucose, sarcosine, urea and the like, is facilitated, and such method is widely applied to the aspects of industry, agriculture, food safety and the like.
At present, the microcolumn electrode array is mainly fabricated by using a complex photolithography technology, including LIGA-like processes, carbonization of photoresist patterned on a substrate, and homoepitaxial growth. Prehn et al., have reported the fabrication of microcolumn electrode array having a column height of 10 μm by using photolithography, metallization and electrodeposition technologies. Secondly, Sanchez-Molas et al., manufactured microcolumn electrode array with higher microcolumn (maximum 125 μm) with sputtering and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), which showed better clarity and repeatability. However, the fabrication process is not only expensive but also time-consuming. In addition, both aspect ratio and column height are limited by lithographic processes. Moreover, the electrochemical detection sensor is simply manufactured by using 3D technique, expensive 3D printer needs to be purchased, and the time consumed for printing the sensor is long. The manufacturing of microcolumn electrode array with higher microcolumns is essential for the development of low-cost and high-sensitive microsensors for chemical and biological substances as the larger electrode surface area can be obtained by manufacturing high microcolumn heights and the large electrode surface area is conducive to acquiring larger response current.
The present disclosure aims at solving at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the present disclosure provides a manufacturing method for a 3D microelectrode, which can be used for manufacturing an ultrahigh microcolumn electrode array as high as 500 μm to 2 mm, has the characteristics of low costs, rapidness, high precision and flexibility, and can be used in the field of electrochemical analysis on wearable devices.
To achieve the objective above of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides the following technical solution:
In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a manufacturing method for a 3D microelectrode is provided, comprising the following steps:
Preferably, the flexible material is selected from any one of PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane), PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and polyimide.
Preferably, the flexible material is a PDMS solution, and a mass ratio of a PDMS prepolymer to a curing agent in the PDMS solution is 10:1.
Preferably, the 3D microelectrode is an electrode array.
Preferably, a single electrode in the electrode array is a circular truncated-cone-shaped electrode, a conical electrode, a cylindrical electrode, a triangular prism-shaped electrode, a prism-shaped electrode, or a spherical electrode.
Preferably, the circular truncated-cone-shaped electrode each have a bottom circle radius of 10 μm to 100 gm and a height of 100 μm to 2 mm, and the distance between the truncated-cone-shaped electrodes is 100 μm to 500 μm.
Preferably, the column height of a single electrode in the electrode array ranges from 5 μm to 2 mm.
Preferably, the 3D model of the 3D microelectrode is manufactured by using a 3D printing technology.
Preferably, the conductive layer in the step (4) is a conductive metal layer or a conductive polymer layer.
Preferably, the conductive layer has a thickness of 150 nm to 250 nm.
Preferably, the conductive metal layer is made of gold, platinum or indium tin oxide.
Preferably, in the step (4), the conductive metal layer is manufactured by using a magnetron sputtering process, or the conductive polymer layer is manufactured by coating conductive polymer.
Preferably, the 3D microelectrode is provided with a substrate portion and a protruded portion fixed on the substrate portion, and the method further comprises a step of manufacturing a non-conductive isolation layer on the substrate portion.
Preferably, the non-conductive isolation layer is made of at least one of silicon nitride, silicon dioxide and a non-conductive polymer.
Preferably, the non-conductive isolation layer is manufactured on the substrate portion by using chemical vapor deposition and lift-off technologies.
In accordance with the manufacturing method for the 3D microelectrode of the embodiment of the present disclosure, at least the following beneficial effects are obtained:
According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the morphology of a 3D microelectrode is copied and obtained by pouring a flexible material for the first time, then silanization treatment is performed to form a layer of polymer film on the surface of a flexible mold. After the flexible material is poured for the second time, two-time model separation can be achieved through the polymer film. A 3D microelectrode having an ultrahigh microcolumn height can be manufactured by a two-time mold-reversing method; furthermore, a flexible material is used as a substrate, so that the formed 3D microelectrode has the characteristics of low costs, rapidness, high precision and flexibility, and can be used in the field of electrochemical analysis on wearable devices.
In the drawings: 100—3D model; 200—PDMS flexible mold; 210—cavity; 300—PDMS flexible 3D microelectrode substrate; 400—conductive layer; 510—protruded portion; 520—substrate portion; 600—non-conductive isolation layer.
The concept and resulting technical effects of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the embodiments so as to fully understand the objects, features and effects of the present disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present disclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary only for explaining the present disclosure and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure.
In the description of the present disclosure, it needs to be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by terms “upper”, “lower”, “front ”, “back”, “left” and “right” is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings only for convenience of description of the present disclosure and simplification of description rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operate in a particular orientation, and thus are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure.
In the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of “several” is more than one, the meaning of “a plurality” is more than two, “greater than”, “less than”, “more than” and the like are understood to be exclusive of the present number, and “above”, “below”, “within” and the like are understood to be inclusive of the present number. “First” and “second”, if referred to, should be construed as being used to distinguish technical features rather than indicating or implying relative importance or implying a number of the indicated technical features or implying a sequential relationship of the indicated technical features.
In the description of the present disclosure, unless expressly specified otherwise, words such as arrangement, installation and connection are to be understood broadly, and the specific meanings of the words in the invention can be reasonably determined by a person skilled in the art in combination with the specific contents of the technical solution.
In the description of the present disclosure, reference to “one embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “an illustrative embodiment,” “an example,” “a specific example,” or “some examples,” or the like, means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In this specification, schematic expressions for the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiments or examples. Moreover, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.
Referring to
In conjunction with
In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, by utilizing the characteristic of high printing precision of the 3D printing technology, the 3D model with the same size as the target 3D microelectrode can be accurately printed. Meanwhile, the 3D model with the ultrahigh microcolumn height can be flexibly designed by using the 3D printing technology, and then the 3D microelectrode with the ultrahigh microcolumn height is prepared by combining two-time PDMS mold-reversing. The microcolumn height of the 3D microelectrode is not limited by a process, and the manufacturing of microcolumn electrode array with higher microcolumns is essential for the development of low-cost and high-sensitive microsensors for chemical and biological substances as the larger electrode surface area can be obtained by manufacturing high microcolumn heights and the large electrode surface area is conducive to acquiring larger response current. The 3D microelectrode with ultrahigh microcolumn height can be prepared by using the manufacturing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, has a better application prospect in the field of electrochemical analysis, and can be used for electrochemical analysis of trace substances. As the 3D microelectrode takes a flexible material as a substrate, such as the PDMS flexible 3D microelectrode substrate 300 in
Referring to
The above description of the embodiments is only intended to help in understanding the method of the present disclosure and its core idea. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art that several improvements and modifications can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the principles of the present disclosure, these improvements and modifications may also fall within the scope of protection of the claims of the present disclosure. Various changes made to these embodiments are apparent for those skilled in the art, and general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Hence, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein, but is to conform to the widest scope in accordance with principles and novel features disclosed herein.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202011622362.6 | Dec 2020 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2021/119872 | 9/23/2021 | WO |
