Articolo in rivista, 2019, ENG, 10.1038/s41427-018-0100-z

A skin-over-liquid platform with compliant microbumps actuated by pyro-EHD pressure

Gennari, O.; Rega, R.; Mugnano, M.; Oleandro, E.; Mecozzi, L.; Pagliarulo, V; Mazzon, E.; Bramanti, A.; Vettoliere, A.; Granata, C.; Ferraro, P.; Grilli, S.

Natl Res Council CNR ISASI; Univ Campania L Vanvitelli; IRCCS Neurolesi Bonino Pulejo

The unique deformability and the compliance ability of thin sheets on soft substrates attract much interest for studying the phenomena related to elastic instabilities as well as for sensing very weak forces such as those generated by live cells in vitro. However, the techniques used currently for producing such platforms are affected by a high degree of complexity and poor repeatability. Moreover, their deformability is usually used as a passive response to the action of an external force. Herein we propose a novel concept for a reliable and dynamic skin-over-liquid system made of a periodic array of highly compliant microbumps actuated through electrode-free electrohydrodynamic (EHD) pressure. We demonstrate that these structures are highly repeatable and capable of swelling and deflating easily under a simple thermal stimulation driven by the pyroelectric effect, thus providing a challenging platform that can be actively controlled at the microscale. Furthermore, we show the proof of principle by swelling these microbumps for mechanically stimulating live cells in vitro, thus opening the route to more reliable and easy to accomplish assays in the field of mechanobiology.

NPG Asia materials 11

Keywords

skin-over-liquid, microbumps, pyro-EHD

CNR authors

Vettoliere Antonio, Mecozzi Laura, Gennari Oriella, Oleandro Emilia, Granata Carmine, Ferraro Pietro, Grilli Simonetta, Pagliarulo Vito, Mugnano Martina, Rega Romina

CNR institutes

ISASI – Istituto di Scienze Applicate e Sistemi Intelligenti "Eduardo Caianiello"

ID: 451656

Year: 2019

Type: Articolo in rivista

Creation: 2021-04-06 13:50:08.000

Last update: 2022-11-17 10:14:11.000

External links

OAI-PMH: Dublin Core

OAI-PMH: Mods

OAI-PMH: RDF

DOI: 10.1038/s41427-018-0100-z

External IDs

CNR OAI-PMH: oai:it.cnr:prodotti:451656

DOI: 10.1038/s41427-018-0100-z

ISI Web of Science (WOS): 000457015500001