Non-Equilibrium Gibbs' Criterion for Completely Wetting Volatile Liquids

During the spreading of a liquid over a solid substrate, the contact line can stay pinned at sharp edges until the contact angle exceeds a critical value. At (or sufficiently near) equilibrium, this is known as Gibbs' criterion. Here, we show both experimentally and theoretically that for completely wetting volatile liquids there also exists a dynamically-produced critical angle for depinning, which increases with the evaporation rate. This suggests that one may introduce a simple modification of the Gibbs' criterion for (de)pinning, that accounts for the non-equilibrium effect of evaporation

Proof-of-concept demonstration of free-form optics enhanced confocal Raman spectroscopy in combination with optofluidic lab-on-chip

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful optical and non-destructive technique and a well-known method for analysis purposes, especially to determine the molecular fingerprint of substances. Traditionally, such analyses are done in a specialized lab, with considerable requirements in terms of equipment, time and manual sampling of substances of interest. In this paper we take a step from bulky Raman spectroscopy laboratory analyses towards lab-on-chip (LOC) analyses. We present an optofluidic lab-on-chip for confocal Raman spectroscopy, which can be used for the analysis of liquids. The confocal detection suppresses the unwanted background from the polymer material out of which the chip is fabricated. We design the free-form optical reflector using non-sequential ray-tracing combined with a mathematical code to simulate the Raman scattering behavior of the substance under test. We prototype the device in Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) by means of ultraprecision diamond tooling. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, we first show the confocal behavior of our Raman lab-on-chip system by measuring the Raman spectrum of ethanol. In a next step, we compare the Raman spectra measured in our lab-on-chip with spectra measured with a commercial Raman spectrometer. Finally, to calibrate the system we perform Raman measurements on urea solutions with different concentrations. We achieve a detection limit that corresponds to a noise equivalent concentration of 20mM. Apart from strongly reducing the background perturbations, our confocal Raman spectroscopy system has other advantages as well. The reflector design is robust from a mechanical point of view and has the potential for mass-manufacturing using hot embossing or injection molding

Thermal effects on the photoelastic coefficient of polymer optical fibers

We measure the radial profile of the photoelastic coefficient C(r) in single-mode polymer optical fibers (POFs), and we determine the evolution of C(r) after annealing the fibers at temperatures from 40°C to 80°C. We demonstrate that C(r) in the fibers drawn from a preform without specific thermal pre-treatment changes and converges to values between 1.2 and 1.6×10-12 Pa-1 following annealing at 80°C. The annealed fibers display a smoothened radial profile of C(r) and a lowered residual birefringence. In contrast, the mean value of C(r) of the fiber drawn from a preform that has been pre-annealed remains constant after our annealing process and is significantly higher, i.e., 4×10-12 Pa-1. The annealing process decreases the residual birefringence to a lower extent as well. These measurements indicate the impact of annealing on the thermal stability of the photoelastic coefficient of POFs, which is an essential characteristic in view of developing POF-based thermomechanical sensors

High-resolution 3D bioprinting of photo-cross-linkable recombinant collagen to serve tissue engineering applications

Various biopolymers, including gelatin, have already been applied to serve a plethora of tissue engineering purposes. However, substantial concerns have arisen related to the safety and the reproducibility of these materials due to their animal origin and the risk associated with pathogen transmission as well as batch-to-batch variations. Therefore, researchers have been focusing their attention toward recombinant materials that can be produced in a laboratory with full reproducibility and can be designed according to specific needs (e.g., by introducing additional RGD sequences). In the present study, a recombinant protein based on collagen type I (RCPhC1) was functionalized with photo-cross-linkable methacrylamide (RCPhC1-MA), norbornene (RCPhC1-NB), or thiol (RCPhC1-SH) functionalities to enable high-resolution 3D printing via two-photon polymerization (2PP). The results indicated a clear difference in 2PP processing capabilities between the chain-growth-polymerized RCPhC1-MA and the step-growth-polymerized RCPhC1-NB/SH. More specifically, reduced swelling-related deformations resulting in a superior CAD-CAM mimicry were obtained for the RCPhC1-NB/SH hydrogels. In addition, RCPhC1-NB/SH allowed the processing of the material in the presence of adipose tissue-derived stem cells that survived the encapsulation process and also were able to proliferate when embedded in the printed structures. As a consequence, it is the first time that successful HD bioprinting with cell encapsulation is reported for recombinant hydrogel bioinks. Therefore, these results can be a stepping stone toward various tissue engineering applications

Evaluation of 3D printed gelatin-based scaffolds with varying pore size for MSC-based adipose tissue engineering

Adipose tissue engineering aims to provide solutions to patients who require tissue reconstruction following mastectomies or other soft tissue trauma. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) robustly differentiate into the adipogenic lineage and are attractive candidates for adipose tissue engineering. This work investigates whether pore size modulates adipogenic differentiation of MSCs toward identifying optimal scaffold pore size and whether pore size modulates spatial infiltration of adipogenically differentiated cells. To assess this, extrusion-based 3D printing is used to fabricate photo-crosslinkable gelatin-based scaffolds with pore sizes in the range of 200-600 mu m. The adipogenic differentiation of MSCs seeded onto these scaffolds is evaluated and robust lipid droplet formation is observed across all scaffold groups as early as after day 6 of culture. Expression of adipogenic genes on scaffolds increases significantly over time, compared to TCP controls. Furthermore, it is found that the spatial distribution of cells is dependent on the scaffold pore size, with larger pores leading to a more uniform spatial distribution of adipogenically differentiated cells. Overall, these data provide first insights into the role of scaffold pore size on MSC-based adipogenic differentiation and contribute toward the rational design of biomaterials for adipose tissue engineering in 3D volumetric spaces

Photo-crosslinkable recombinant collagen mimics for tissue engineering applications

Gelatin is frequently used in various biomedical applications. However, gelatin is generally extracted from an animal source, which can result in issues with reproducibility as well as pathogen transmittance. Therefore, we have investigated the potential of a recombinant peptide based on collagen I (RCPhC1) for tissue engineering applications and more specifically for adipose tissue regeneration. In the current paper, RCPhC1 was functionalized with photo-crosslinkable methacrylamide moieties to enable subsequent UV-induced crosslinking in the presence of a photo-initiator. The resulting biomaterial (RCPhC1-MA) was characterized by evaluating the crosslinking behaviour, the mechanical properties, the gel fraction, the swelling properties and the biocompatibility. The obtained results were compared with the data obtained for methacrylamide-modified gelatin (Gel-MA). The results indicated that the properties of RCPhC1-MA networks are comparable to those of animal-derived Gel-MA. RCPhC1-MA is thus an attractive synthetic alternative for animal-derived Gel-MA and is envisioned to be applicable for a wide range of tissue engineering purposes