title: Microfluidic in situ mechanical testing of photopolymerized gels.
abstract: Gels are a functional template for micro-particle fabrication and microbiology experiments. The control and knowledge of their mechanical properties is critical in a number of applications, but no simple in situ method exists to determine these properties. We propose a novel microfluidic based method that directly measures the mechanical properties of the gel upon its fabrication. We measure the deformation of a gel beam under a controlled flow forcing, which gives us a direct access to the Young's modulus of the material itself. We then use this method to determine the mechanical properties of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) under various experimental conditions. The mechanical properties of the gel can be highly tuned, yielding two order of magnitude in the Young's modulus. The method can be easily implemented to allow for an in situ direct measurement and control of Young's moduli under various experimental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Hydrodynamique (LadHyx), Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, France. camille.duprat@ladhyx.polytecnhique.fr.
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duprat
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Berthet
authors.forename: Jason S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wexler
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: du Roure
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lindner
mesh_terms: D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004867:Equipment Design; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; C437167:poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols