Matls 4B03 Guest Lecture Dr.

Scott Reflection

Christine Ye – 400173614

Word Count: 246

Mechanical properties matter. Relaxed applied stress is perfect liquids like viscosity. Store applied stress
is solids like elasticity. Biomaterials combine relaxed and stored stress and are viscoelasticity.

Stem cells sense elasticity differentiate accordingly. As the material gets more elastic/stiff, there are
more glia cells, less neuron.

To measure the material mechanical properties, use compression testing. Use stress vs strain curve for
elastic materials. There are 4 regimes, pre-load, elastic deformation, plastic deformation, and broken
sample. Elastic deformation would be best to use for determining mechanical properties since the linear
relationship. Young’s Modulus (E) use elastic deformation region only for linearly elastic materials.
Cyclic compression testing can measure multiple times and calculate E for every cycle.

Hydrogel contains network of polymers and water. Gelatin, agar, and agarose are example of hydrogel.
Algin is hydrogel using polymers form algar and Ca2+ crosslinks which acts completely different from its
polymer material as E is changing when compressing harder. Because the hydrogel is mostly water,
which need to push out first and then lift and could not be returned fast.

Environmental viscosity affects living systems. Viscosity affects cell proliferation, cells spreading stem
cell differentiation.

Rheometry measures material mechanical properties. Small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS)
measures both elasticity and viscosity at the same time as it rotates back and forth at changing
frequency. Cells align to changing oscillatory stress.

Dynamic biomaterials could be hydrogels created with light-sensitive polymers, cleaving photocleavable
molecules decrease elasticity. Increasing number of free cyclodextrin (CD), increase E.