Microchannels in a plastic film

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Another grad student and I have figured out a way to create micron-sized channels INSIDE a piece of thermoplastic polymer using a laser. Basically it creates a porous channel inside the material (I attached a microscope image). This is a long channel but the inside of it is not empty - it has a highly tortuous structure.

We've done this using 1mm thick plastic, and also 0.15mm thick film. Question is, is there anything cool I can make out of this? I thought about running a fluid (potentially conductive fluid) through it, making some sort of device. Some sort of display? Strain gage? Solar cell? Something bio?

Theoretically I should be able to make a void of any shape (not just channels) using this method. Again, these voids are INSIDE the material, not on the surface - it has solid polymer on top and bottom, enclosing it from the environment.

This is really backwards, normally in engineering you make something that solves a real problem. Instead, I made something for no reason and am trying to find an application. That's the sad part about academic research, but that's where I'm at today ):

Any ideas highly appreciated. Thanks!

 

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Just guessing:
With larger channels (~100µm) it could be interesting for cooling applications. Or for some chemical reactions that need a large surface but still something more structured than porous materials.

 

[refind]

Just guessing:
With larger channels (~100µm) it could be interesting for cooling applications. Or for some chemical reactions that need a large surface but still something more structured than porous materials.

This is what I'm looking for, can you be more specific? How would this be applied to "cooling" ? Cooling of what?

And what chemical reactions would require this, do you have any examples?

Thanks

 

[mfb]

The concept is called microchannel cooling, and in principle everything that generates heat can be cooled - electronics, heat from friction, from hot material flowing over a surface, ...

And what chemical reactions would require this, do you have any examples?

I don't know, but google finds many applications with the search terms "porous materials chemical reactions".