Measuring the elastic modulus of microgels using microdrops (original) (raw)
* Corresponding authors
a Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
E-mail: adam.abate@ucsf.edu
b School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Kavli Institute for Nanobio Science and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
c Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California 94158, USA
Abstract
Two microgel particles are encapsulated in a microdrop having a spherical diameter smaller than the sum of the diameters of the microgels; this causes the microgels to be squeezed together by the oil–water interface of the drop, in turn, making the drop ellipsoidal in shape. By modeling the force applied to the microgels by the drop and equating this to the Hertz contact force of their deformation, we are able to estimate their elastic modulus. By varying the surface tension and shape of the drops, we are able to measure the modulus of the microgels under different loads. This provides a simple technique for quantifying the elasticity of small, deformable objects, including liquid drops, microgels, and cells.
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Article information
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C2SM26108A
Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 May 2012
Accepted
30 Jul 2012
First published
16 Aug 2012
Download Citation
Soft Matter, 2012,8, 10032-10035
Permissions
Measuring the elastic modulus of microgels using microdrops
A. R. Abate, L. Han, L. Jin, Z. Suo and D. A. Weitz,Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 10032DOI: 10.1039/C2SM26108A
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