Fluidic Assembly of Hierarchical Soft Materials and Devices

加法制造方法在各种非常不同的应用背景下获得了广泛的兴趣。在广泛的技术应用中，最具挑战性但尚未实现的目标之一是天然生物聚合物的添加组装，其方式类似于它们在生命系统中的分层、多尺度组织。我提出的研究计划旨在系统地研究负责流动制备排列的生物聚合物平面和管状结构的不同传输过程之间的相互作用，这些结构具有非常大的长宽比(&gt；3000)和异常高的拉伸性能(杨氏模量&gt；10 Mpa)。许多工作最初集中在胶原蛋白上，但更广泛地适用于不同的纤维状生物聚合物。我们将结合现场实验，利用分析和数值方法相结合的方法，定量评估单个流动、运输和组装过程的相关时间尺度及其缩放行为。我们的目标是利用所获得的理解，进一步将取向薄板的杨氏模数提高至少十倍。通过将定向薄片成型与添加剂制造方法相结合，我们的目标是首次从蛋白质生物材料中常规地形成厘米级、中空和承重的结构。我们将开发坚固且可大规模扩展的生物混合流体接口，允许生物聚合物结构及其组件的一致外部灌流以及(内部)自灌流。

Additive manufacturing approaches have gained broad interest in the context of a variety of very different applications. One of the most challenging yet unmet goals with widespread technological applications is the additive assembly of natural biopolymers in ways that resemble their hierarchical, multiscale organization in living systems. My proposed research program aims at systematically studying the interplay between the different transport processes responsible for the flowable preparation of aligned biopolymeric planar and tubular constructs with very large aspect ratios (>3,000) and unusually high tensile properties (Young's modulus >10MPa). Much of the work initially focuses on collagens but is more broadly applicable to different fibrillar biopolymers. We will utilize a combination of analytical and numerical approaches in combination with in situ experiments to quantitatively assess the relevant time scales for the individual flow, transport and assembly processes, and their scaling behavior. We aim at utilizing the gained understanding to further increase the Young's modulus of the aligned sheets by at least tenfold. By integrating aligned sheet formation with additive manufacturing approaches we aim for the first time to routinely form centimeter-scale, hollow and load bearing structures from protein-based biomaterials. We will develop robust and massively scalable biohybrid fluidic interfaces that will allow the consistent external perfusion as well as the (internal) self-perfusion of biopolymeric structures and their assemblies.