Attia, Usama M.Alcock, Jeffrey R.2011-05-062011-05-062010-04-14U.M. Attia, J.R. Alcock, A process chain for integrating microfluidic interconnection elements by micro- overmoulding of thermoplastic elastomers, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Volume 20, Issue 5, 2010, Paper Number 0550170960-1317http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0960-1317/20/5/055017http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/5300This paper presents a process chain for in-line integration of microfluidic interconnection elements by a variant of micro-injection moulding (mu IM). A SEBS-based thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) was moulded over polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) to produce a hybrid microfluidic structure with an aspect ratio of 2. The process chain implemented micro-milling for fabricating micro-structured tool inserts, and mu IM and micro-overmoulding was used for replication. A two-plate mould was used for moulding the substrate, whilst a three-plate mould with a replaceable insert was used for TPE overmoulding. The presented application was an interconnect system for a microfluidic device, which enabled direct fitting of standard tubes into microfluidic substrates. A leakage test showed that the interconnection was leak-proof within a range of flow rates between 0.32 and 0.62 ml min(-1).en-UKhybrid microstructures technologies replicationArticle