文章基本信息

标题：Facile tuning of the mechanical properties of a biocompatible soft material
本地全文：下载
作者：Daniele Vigolo ; Shivaprakash N. Ramakrishna ; Andrew J. deMello 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2019
卷号：9
期号：1
页码：1-7
DOI：10.1038/s41598-019-43579-8
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：Herein, we introduce a method to locally modify the mechanical properties of a soft, biocompatible material through the exploitation of the effects induced by the presence of a local temperature gradient. In our hypotheses, this induces a concentration gradient in an aqueous sodium alginate solution containing calcium carbonate particles confined within a microfluidic channel. The concentration gradient is then fixed by forming a stable calcium alginate hydrogel. The process responsible for the hydrogel formation is initiated by diffusing an acidic oil solution through a permeable membrane in a 2-layer microfluidic device, thus reducing the pH and freeing calcium ions. We characterize the gradient of mechanical properties using atomic force microscopy nanoindentation measurements for a variety of material compositions and thermal conditions. Significantly, our novel approach enables the creation of steep gradients in mechanical properties (typically between 10-100 kPa/mm) on small scales, which will be of significant use in a range of tissue engineering and cell mechanosensing studies.