Design and characterization of a 3D-printed staggered herringbone mixer

3D printing holds potential as a faster, cheaper alternative compared with traditional photolithography for the fabrication of microfluidic devices by replica molding. However, the influence of printing resolution and quality on device design and performance has yet to receive detailed study. Here, we investigate the use of 3D-printed molds to create staggered herringbone mixers (SHMs) with feature sizes ranging from similar to 100 to 500 mu m. We provide guidelines for printer calibration to ensure accurate printing at these length scales and quantify the impacts of print variability on SHM performance. We show that SHMs produced by 3D printing generate well-mixed output streams across devices with variable heights and defects, demonstrating that 3D printing is suitable and advantageous for low-cost, high-throughput SHM manufacturing. Method Summary We investigate the use of 3D printing to create staggered herringbone mixers (SHMs) and show that such devices generate well-mixed output streams across devices with variable heights and defects. This demonstrates that 3D printing is suitable and advantageous for low-cost, low-effort, high-throughput micromixer manufacturing.