Fig. 2: Fabrication methods of soft templates and the resultant prototypes.
From: Self-shrinking soft demoulding for complex high-aspect-ratio microchannels
a The fabrication methods for the soft templates, including direction drawing, postprocessing, and assembly. A series of shapes and geometries can be generated by varying the parameters in each step. b The relationship between filament diameter \(D\) and drawing speed \(v\) (\(C\) is a constant). The red dots and pink cloud represent the mean values and standard deviations. c–h Soft templates of different shapes (i.e., a straight, a taper-shaped, a branched, a spindle-knotted, a helical, and a plectoneme structure) fabricated by direct drawing and postprocessing. Images in c–h are representative of five independent soft templates (experimental replicates). Scale bars, 100 µm. i–m Soft templates of 3D complex geometries (i.e., a conical surface, a saddle surface, a hyperboloid surface, and a tree-like structure) fabricated by assembly. Scale bars, 5 mm.
