Measurement of refractive index of single microparticles

The refractive index of single microparticles is derived from precise measurement and rigorous modeling of the stiffness of a laser trap. We demonstrate the method for particles of four different materials with diameters from 1.6 to 5.2 microns and achieve an accuracy of better than 1%. The method greatly contributes as a new characterization technique because it works best under conditions (small particle size, polydispersion) where other methods, such as absorption spectroscopy, start to fail. Particles need not be transferred to a particular fluid, which prevents particle degradation or alteration common in index matching techniques. Our results also show that advanced modeling of laser traps accurately reproduces experimental reality

Mechanics of Cellular Adhesion to Artificial Artery Templates

We are using polymer templates to grow artificial artery grafts in vivo for the replacement of diseased blood vessels. We have previously shown that adhesion of macrophages to the template starts the graft formation. We present a study of the mechanics of macrophage adhesion to these templates on a single cell and single bond level with optical tweezers. For whole cells, in vitro cell adhesion densities decreased significantly from polymer templates polyethylene to silicone to Tygon (167, 135, and 65 cells/mm(2)). These cell densities were correlated with the graft formation success rate (50%, 25%, and 0%). Single-bond rupture forces at a loading rate of 450 pN/s were quantified by adhesion of trapped 2-μm spheres to macrophages. Rupture force distributions were dominated by nonspecific adhesion (forces <40 pN). On polystyrene, preadsorption of fibronectin or presence of serum proteins in the cell medium significantly enhanced adhesion strength from a mean rupture force of 20 pN to 28 pN or 33 pN, respectively. The enhancement of adhesion by fibronectin and serum is additive (mean rupture force of 43 pN). The fraction of specific binding forces in the presence of serum was similar for polystyrene and polymethyl-methacrylate, but specific binding forces were not observed for silica. Again, we found correlation to in vivo experiments, where the density of adherent cells is higher on polystyrene than on silica templates, and can be further enhanced by fibronectin adsorption. These findings show that in vitro adhesion testing can be used for template optimization and to substitute for in-vivo experiments

Magnetron sputtered gadolinia-doped ceria diffusion barriers for metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells

Gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) thin films are deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering in an industrial-scale setup and implemented as barrier layers between the cathode and electrolyte in metal-based solid oxide fuel cells consisting of a metal support, an electrolyte of ZrO2 co-doped with Sc2O3 and Y2O3 (ScYSZ) and a Sr-doped lanthanum cobalt oxide cathode. In order to optimize the deposition of GDC to obtain high electrochemical performance of the cells, the influence of film thickness and adatom mobility is studied. The adatom mobility is varied by tuning the deposition temperature and substrate bias voltage. A GDC layer thickness of 0.6 µm is found to effectively block Sr diffusion when bias voltage and deposition temperature is tuned to promote dense coatings. The adatom mobility has a large influence on the film density. Low temperature and bias voltage result in underdense column boundaries which function as channels for Sr to diffuse to the GDC-ScYSZ interface. By tuning deposition temperature, bias voltage and film thickness area specific resistances down to 0.34 Ωcm2 are achieved at cell tests performed at an operating temperature of 650 °C

Magnetron sputtered gadolinia-doped ceria diffusion barriers for metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells

Gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) thin films are deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering in an industrial-scale setup and implemented as barrier layers between the cathode and electrolyte in metal-based solid oxide fuel cells consisting of a metal support, an electrolyte of ZrO2 co-doped with Sc2O3 and Y2O3 (ScYSZ) and a Sr-doped lanthanum cobalt oxide cathode. In order to optimize the deposition of GDC to obtain high electrochemical performance of the cells, the influence of film thickness and adatom mobility is studied. The adatom mobility is varied by tuning the deposition temperature and substrate bias voltage. A GDC layer thickness of 0.6 µm is found to effectively block Sr diffusion when bias voltage and deposition temperature is tuned to promote dense coatings. The adatom mobility has a large influence on the film density. Low temperature and bias voltage result in underdense column boundaries which function as channels for Sr to diffuse to the GDC-ScYSZ interface. By tuning deposition temperature, bias voltage and film thickness area specific resistances down to 0.34 Ωcm2 are achieved at cell tests performed at an operating temperature of 650 °C