Figure 5

Different long-term stability tests for the presented fabrication method. (A) Diagram of example pumping sequence that pulls in fluid and then pushes it out to where it is needed. The numbers in the diagram designate valve numbers for the actuation sequence given in supplemental information. (B) Comparison of flow rate profile from a complex microvalve based device fabricated using this PFTCS based method on the date of fabrication and 3 years later. The inset plot shows a minute-long g-Force profile this chip experienced during a rocket launch and crash between the time of the two flow rate plots. The launch had a sustained 7.5 g acceleration applied to the chip and during the crash the acceleration was as high as 25 g. This shows the longevity capabilities and resilience of this microcontact printing method. (C) Comparison of the performance of the same type of device with constant use over thousands of open and closing operations. The specified actuations correspond to a single valve in the sequence meaning each of the 11 valves experienced that many actuations.