During micro-injection molding, strong adhesion and friction between the polymers and the metal mold inserts often lead to defects such as surface burrs, edge stretching, and even fractures, which impair the performance of microstructured components like microfluidic chips. Additionally, conventional nickel (Ni) mold inserts suffer from low microhardness and poor wear resistance, limiting their life and the demolding quality of microstructures. To address these issues, this study fabricated Ni and Ni-WS 2 mold insert by electroforming, where WS 2 nanoparticles were embedded in the Ni matrix. The organosilanes of Decyltriethoxysilane (DS), octadecyltriethoxysilane (ODS), and 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PFDS) with low surface energy were applied to prepare self-assembled monolayers on Ni/WS 2 mold insert via immersion. The results indicated that the embedded WS 2 nanoparticles significantly improved the microhardness of Ni mold insert. All organosilanes were well hydrolyzed and uniformly adsorbed on the mold insert surface, which effectively improved the surface flatness. After coating treatment, the water contact angle was increased from 72° for Ni to 120° for Ni/WS 2-PFDS mold insert, which indicated a significant reduction in surface energy and adhesion. The friction coefficient was reduced from 0.75 (Ni mold insert) to 0.25 (Ni/WS 2 mold insert) due to the self-lubricating property of WS 2 nanoparticles, which further reduced to 0.2 for the Ni/WS 2-PFDS mold insert owing to the effect of PFDS film. Compared to Ni mold insert, the combined effect of microhardness and surface anti-adhesion enhancement reduced the peak demolding force by 56.9 % from 51 N to 22 N. The demolding force remains stable within 150 injection molding cycles, which enabled defect-free demolding of microfluidic chip microstructures.
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