Abstract
ABSTRACTImplants, tissue engineering scaffold materials, drug delivery and bio-micro electromechanical systems (BioMEMs) all use polymer or hydrogel materials. These applications require both mechanical performance and successful integration of the material into a biological environment. Mechanical strength, storage and loss moduli, wear resistance and surface adhesion properties are all critical in biomedical device design and can be determined using nanoindentation. The difficulty of obtaining large samples of specialized materials, and the complexity of testing soft materials in traditional materials testing apparatus, make nanoindentation an attractive alternative. Our previous research using nanoindentation to measure the surface mechanical properties of non-hydrated polymers led to improvement in nanoindentation testing protocols. One of the major challenges in using this technique for hydrogels and tissues is maintaining and controlling hydration of the materials during the test. Here we describe the design of a microfluidic platform for nanoindentation that facilitates continuous hydration of hydrogel samples and high throughput nanomechanical testing. Data from creep experiments on synthetic, hydrated poly-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (poly-HEMA) are presented. In addition, we show data to validate the materials properties determined from nanomechanical testing by complementary testing. Finally, the data is fitted to a phenomenological model for viscoelastic materials, specifically the three-element standard linear solid model used by Cheng et al. [1].
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.