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Flow of reversible hydrogels in a microfluidic chip
Reversible hydrogels are a promising new class of materials, for instance to engineer self-healing materials, tunable dampers, or for the thermal stabilization of biologics. However, little is known about how reversible hydrogels flow in confined environments. The goal of this project is to design experiments in order to investigate the behavior of reversible hydrogels during flow.
We have developed in our lab a new class of reversible hydrogels, unique by their almost perfect topology and tunability. This allows us to probe the physics of such networks with in ways that could not be achieved before. In previous experiments with a rheometer, we have observed fascinating phenomena where the hydrogels flow up to a given shear rate, and extrude out of the rheometer plate in a solid-like fashion beyond a critical shear rate (see Picture 1). In order to better understand the flow behavior of these hydrogels, we built a setup that allows us to observe the flow of a hydrogel in a microfluidic chip under a microscope, by using fluorescent emission. We could reproduce the solid-like fracture of the hydrogel by shearing it in the chip (see Picture 2). We could also get a hint that the shear rate determines to some extent the shape and the characteristics of the solid-like fracture. In our next steps, we want to go deeper in the understanding of this phenomenon. For this, we aim at improving our current setup and identifying what key experiments could allow us to better understand and characterize the hydrogel's behavior. Ideally, we aim at characterizing the hydrogel's behavior and understanding it down to a molecular level.
We have developed in our lab a new class of reversible hydrogels, unique by their almost perfect topology and tunability. This allows us to probe the physics of such networks with in ways that could not be achieved before. In previous experiments with a rheometer, we have observed fascinating phenomena where the hydrogels flow up to a given shear rate, and extrude out of the rheometer plate in a solid-like fashion beyond a critical shear rate (see Picture 1). In order to better understand the flow behavior of these hydrogels, we built a setup that allows us to observe the flow of a hydrogel in a microfluidic chip under a microscope, by using fluorescent emission. We could reproduce the solid-like fracture of the hydrogel by shearing it in the chip (see Picture 2). We could also get a hint that the shear rate determines to some extent the shape and the characteristics of the solid-like fracture. In our next steps, we want to go deeper in the understanding of this phenomenon. For this, we aim at improving our current setup and identifying what key experiments could allow us to better understand and characterize the hydrogel's behavior. Ideally, we aim at characterizing the hydrogel's behavior and understanding it down to a molecular level.
The goal of this project is to move further in the understanding of the flow behavior of hydrogels. For this, we expect the project to consist of two phases:
- In the first phase, the student will have to improve the experimental setup, focusing in particular on the reproducibility.
- The second phase will be more open: the student will have to design experiments to probe and understand the hydrogel's flow behavior. This could mean keeping the current experiment or designing new ones. In addition, the student could also investigate some of the theoretical aspects of the phenomena observed, although this is not at all a requirement. This can be decided during the project.
The second phase is very open and would offer a lot of freedom in the choices to be made. It is also expected to be very challenging, so it is not expected that the student comes to a complete understanding of the observed phenomena at the end of the project!
The goal of this project is to move further in the understanding of the flow behavior of hydrogels. For this, we expect the project to consist of two phases: - In the first phase, the student will have to improve the experimental setup, focusing in particular on the reproducibility. - The second phase will be more open: the student will have to design experiments to probe and understand the hydrogel's flow behavior. This could mean keeping the current experiment or designing new ones. In addition, the student could also investigate some of the theoretical aspects of the phenomena observed, although this is not at all a requirement. This can be decided during the project.
The second phase is very open and would offer a lot of freedom in the choices to be made. It is also expected to be very challenging, so it is not expected that the student comes to a complete understanding of the observed phenomena at the end of the project!