PDMS Substrates with tunable stiffness for cardiac mechanobiology investigation: A nanoindentation study

Serino, Gianpaolo; Lugas, Andrea T.; Bernava, Giacomo; Ragazzini, Sara; Gabetti, Stefano; Terzini, Mara; Morbiducci, Umberto; Audenino, Alberto; Pesce, Maurizio; Massai, Diana Nada Caterina

doi:10.4081/bse.2021.192

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Predicting the mechanical properties of 2PP-printed materials is challenging as they depend on various parameters. Previous works have investigated the tunability of conventional PDMS by using different mixing ratios of the base (pre-polymer) and the hardener (curing agent), temperatures, and curing times [23][24][25]. Herein, we focus instead on characterising the mechanical properties of the novel 2PP IP-PDMS elastomeric material with respect to the 2PP printing parameters: laser power, scan speed, slicing distance, and hatching distance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro 3D Printing Elastomeric IP-PDMS Using Two-Photon Polymerisation: A Comparative Analysis of Mechanical and Feature Resolution Properties

Altena

Accardo

2023

Polymers

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The mechanical properties of two-photon-polymerised (2PP) polymers are highly dependent on the employed printing parameters. In particular, the mechanical features of elastomeric polymers, such as IP-PDMS, are important for cell culture studies as they can influence cell mechanobiological responses. Herein, we employed optical-interferometer-based nanoindentation to characterise two-photon-polymerised structures manufactured with varying laser powers, scan speeds, slicing distances, and hatching distances. The minimum reported effective Young’s modulus (YM) was 350 kPa, while the maximum one was 17.8 MPa. In addition, we showed that, on average, immersion in water lowered the YM by 5.4%, a very important point as in the context of cell biology applications, the material must be employed within an aqueous environment. We also developed a printing strategy and performed a scanning electron microscopy morphological characterisation to find the smallest achievable feature size and the maximum length of a double-clamped freestanding beam. The maximum reported length of a printed beam was 70 µm with a minimum width of 1.46 ± 0.11 µm and a thickness of 4.49 ± 0.05 µm. The minimum beam width of 1.03 ± 0.02 µm was achieved for a beam length of 50 µm with a height of 3.00 ± 0.06 µm. In conclusion, the reported investigation of micron-scale two-photon-polymerized 3D IP-PDMS structures featuring tuneable mechanical properties paves the way for the use of this material in several cell biology applications, ranging from fundamental mechanobiology to in vitro disease modelling to tissue engineering.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro 3D Printing Elastomeric IP-PDMS Using Two-Photon Polymerisation: A Comparative Analysis of Mechanical and Feature Resolution Properties

Altena

Accardo

2023

Polymers

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

PDMS Substrates with tunable stiffness for cardiac mechanobiology investigation: A nanoindentation study

Abstract: Micromechanical characterization by nanoindentation of PDMS substrates for cardiac mechanobiology studies.

Cited by 1 publication

References 7 publications

Micro 3D Printing Elastomeric IP-PDMS Using Two-Photon Polymerisation: A Comparative Analysis of Mechanical and Feature Resolution Properties

Micro 3D Printing Elastomeric IP-PDMS Using Two-Photon Polymerisation: A Comparative Analysis of Mechanical and Feature Resolution Properties

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