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Journal of Nanomaterials
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 164953, 6 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/164953
A Three-Dimensional Enormous Surface Area Aluminum Microneedle Array with Nanoporous Structure
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3128, USA
2Department of Engineering Technology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3128, USA
3Department of Energy Engineering, National United University, Miaoli 36003, Taiwan
Received 24 December 2012; Accepted 3 January 2013
Academic Editor: Amir Kajbafvala
Copyright © 2013 Po Chun Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
We proposed fabricating an aluminum microneedle array with a nanochannel structure on the surface by combining micromachining, electrolyte polishing, and anodization methods. The microneedle array provides a three-dimensional (3D) structure that possesses several hundred times more surface area than a traditional nanochannel template. Therefore, the microneedle array can potentially be used in many technology applications. This 3D microneedle array device can not only be used for painless injection or extraction, but also for storage, highly sensitive detection, drug delivery, and microelectrodes. From the calculation we made, the microneedle array not only increases surface area, but also enlarges the capacity of the device. Therefore, the microneedle array can further be used on many detecting, storing, or drug delivering applications.