Abstract
Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is widely used to create 3D micro- and nanoscale scaffolds for biological and mechanobiological studies, which often require the mechanical characterization of the TPP fabricated structures. To satisfy physiological requirements, most of the mechanical characterizations need to be conducted in liquid. However, previous characterizations of TPP fabricated structures are all conducted in air due to the limitation of conventional micro- and nanoscale mechanical testing methods. In this study, a new experimental method is reported for testing the mechanical properties of TPP-printed microfibers in liquid. The experiments show that the mechanical behaviors of the microfibers tested in liquid are significantly different from those tested in air. By controlling the TPP writing parameters, the mechanical properties of the microfibers can be tailored over a wide range to meet a variety of mechanobiology applications. In addition, it is found that, in water, the plasticly deformed microfibers can return to their predeformed shape after tensile strain is released. The shape recovery time is dependent on the size of microfibers. The experimental method represents a significant advancement in mechanical testing of TPP fabricated structures and may help release the full potential of TPP fabricated 3D tissue scaffolds for mechanobiological studies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2206739 |
| Journal | Advanced Functional Materials |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 16 2023 |
Funding
The authors thank Dr. Lei Fang from Texas A&M University for helpful discussions. The authors acknowledge the funding support from the NSF (Awards 1826135, 1936065, 2143997), the NIH National Institutes of General Medical Sciences P20GM113126 (Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication), and P30GM127200 (Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine), the Nebraska Collaborative Initiative, and the Voelte-Keegan Bioengineering Support. Design and fabrication of the TPP structures were conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at ORNL, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. Manufacturing and characterization analysis were performed at the NanoEngineering Research Core Facility (NERCF). G.M. and J.R. are funded by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (Award 2034837). The authors thank Dr. Lei Fang from Texas A&M University for helpful discussions. The authors acknowledge the funding support from the NSF (Awards 1826135, 1936065, 2143997), the NIH National Institutes of General Medical Sciences P20GM113126 (Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication), and P30GM127200 (Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine), the Nebraska Collaborative Initiative, and the Voelte‐Keegan Bioengineering Support. Design and fabrication of the TPP structures were conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at ORNL, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. Manufacturing and characterization analysis were performed at the NanoEngineering Research Core Facility (NERCF). G.M. and J.R. are funded by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (Award 2034837).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| NanoEngineering Research Core Facility | |
| Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine | |
| Nebraska Collaborative Initiative | |
| Voelte-Keegan Bioengineering Support | |
| Voelte‐Keegan Bioengineering Support | 2034837 |
| National Science Foundation | 2143997, 1826135, 1936065 |
| National Institute of General Medical Sciences | P30GM127200, P20GM113126 |
| Office of Science |
Keywords
- IP-Visio
- mechanical characterization
- shape memory
- tensile testing
- two-photon polymerization