Exploring Mechanical Properties of Soft Materials at the Nanoscale Using Indentation Methods
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Soft materials, characterized by elastic moduli typically below 1 MPa, such as biopolymers, gels, and biological tissues, exhibit distinct mechanical properties compared to hard materials. Investigating these properties at the nanoscale offers new possibilities in fields like biomedical engineering, materials science, and nanotechnology. Nanoindentation techniques, including Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and nanoindenters, were employed to assess the mechanical properties of soft samples. These techniques were applied to samples such as defined phospholipid bilayers, biomolecules (proteins, DNA), hydrogels, single cells, and tissue cultures. Additionally, correlative approaches using fluorescence and Raman microscopy were demonstrated. The presentation concludes with a discussion on the challenges of standardizing these measurements. The goal is to develop more efficient methods for characterizing the mechanical properties of complex soft materials and understanding their properties at the nanometer scale. This also involves exploring their relationship to the molecular nature of certain processes, with implications for biological and biochemical sciences. Such characterization can enhance our understanding of the connections between physiological or disease states and changes in mechanical properties at the molecular, cellular, or tissue levels. |
| Related projects: |