A scalable, lithography-less fabrication process for generating a bio-inspired, multi-scale channel network in polymers

Multi-scale fractal morphology communicating with nanoscale phenomena is commonly observed in nature in several applications, including leaves, fish gills, respiratory systems, and so on. Recent investigations of the bio-mimicking of these morphologies confirm their effectiveness in several bio-applications, including heat and mass transfer, tissue engineering, capillary pumps, and self-healing materials. Ascalable, lithography-less process of fabricating such fractal channels in micro/meso sizes connected to a vascular nano-network is proposed here. A recently developed, novel method for ultra-fast fabrication of fractal microstructures is integrated with an electrospun nanofibrous network to form sacrificial core structures. These structures are embedded in a thin PDMS matrix and channel networks are generated by removal of sacrificial elements using solvents. Eventually, these structures are characterized and preliminary studies demonstrate their effectiveness in mass transport applications.