title: Miniaturized platform with on-chip strain sensors for compression testing of arrayed materials.
abstract: We report a microfabricated mechanical testing platform with on-chip strain sensors for in situ mechanical characterization of arrayed materials. The device is based on deformable elastomeric membranes that are actuated by pressure that is delivered through an underlying channel network. The bulging membranes compress material samples that are confined between the membranes and a rigid top-plate. Carbon nanotube-based strain sensors that exhibit strain-dependent electrical resistivity were integrated within the membranes to provide continuous read-out of membrane deflection amplitude. We used this platform to study the cyclic compression of several different silicone samples and thereby measured their elastic moduli. The results obtained using our miniaturized platform were in excellent agreement with those obtained using a commercially available mechanical testing platform and clearly demonstrated the utility of our platform for the mechanical testing of small samples in parallel. The miniaturized platform can significantly increase mechanical testing efficiency, particularly when testing of iterative sample formulations is required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G8.
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: MacQueen
authors.forename: Oleg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chebotarev
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D019245:Compressive Strength; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D020724:Elastomers / Q000737:chemistry*; D017097:Electric Impedance; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon
chemical_list: D020724:Elastomers; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon