Abstract
Very flexible and rugged Ag-Ga nanowires of constant diameter (50-500 nm diameter, 7-70 microns long) can be simply grown onto AFM tips at room temperature. These nanowires are electrically conductive and have stiffness that is well matched to visco-elastic properties determinations of complex fluids and biological materials. We envision using them to enable a combined intracellular electrochemical plus visco-elastic cell-to-electronics interface (1) both for real-time biological sensing of the cell and its microenvironment, and (2) as a complex cellbased sensor of human health, physiological stress, environmental threats, or food integrity. This report specifically presents progress towards such systems by demonstrating the abilities of the needles to (1) make precise AFM measurements of surface tension, contact angle, evaporation rate, and shear viscosity of polymeric liquids, (2) draw polymer nanofibers of controlled lengths and widths as a combined function of surface tension, viscosity and evaporation rate, (3) measure complex viscoelastic properties of cell membranes and organelles of blood and endothelial cells, (4) be captured and surrounded by single live endothelial cells within a few seconds, (5) polymerize and detect through force measurements the growth of long fibrin nanofibers polymerizing on the end of a 100 nm diameter needle.
Original language | English |
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State | Published - 2007 |
Event | 39th International SAMPE Technical Conference - From Art to Science: Advancing Materials and Process Engineering - Cincinnati, OH, United States Duration: Oct 29 2007 → Nov 1 2007 |
Conference
Conference | 39th International SAMPE Technical Conference - From Art to Science: Advancing Materials and Process Engineering |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Cincinnati, OH |
Period | 10/29/07 → 11/1/07 |
Keywords
- Biomaterials
- Nanomaterials
- Polymers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Materials Science
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering