Open AccessFabrication of high‐density microneedle masters towards the commercialisation of dissolving microneedles
Author(s) -
Chiaranairungroj Muthita,
Pimpin Alongkorn,
Srituravanich Werayut
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
micro and nano letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1750-0443
DOI - 10.1049/mnl.2017.0596
Subject(s) - fabrication , materials science , nanotechnology , dissolution , etching (microfabrication) , machining , polymer , composite material , metallurgy , layer (electronics) , chemical engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , engineering
Recent progress of dissolving microneedles opens up a great potential for the utilisation of microneedles in a wide range of applications. However, the commercialisation of dissolving microneedles requires mass production of microneedle masters and moulds. In this work, a simple, low‐cost and high‐throughput fabrication method of high‐density microneedle masters is presented. The high‐density microneedle masters were fabricated by first machining an aluminium workpiece to form high‐density rectangular column arrays using wire‐cut electrode discharge machining. Subsequently, the rectangular column arrays were subjected to a chemical etching under a mass‐transport limited condition resulting in the formation of conical‐shaped microneedle masters without the need of etch mask. For demonstration, the fabricated microneedle masters were used as a template for the fabrication of an inverse polymer mould and subsequently the polymer mould was used for the fabrication of silk microneedles. The proposed method offers a simple, low cost and high throughput means for the mass production of high‐density microneedle masters towards the commercialisation of dissolving microneedles.