Wednesday, September 5, 2012

1209.0032 (Hans M. Wyss et al.)

Capillary micromechanics: Measuring the elasticity of microscopic soft
objects
   [PDF]

Hans M. Wyss, Thomas Franke, Elisa Mele, David A. Weitz
We present a simple method for accessing the elastic properties of microscopic deformable particles. This method is based on measuring the pressure-induced deformation of soft particles as they are forced through a tapered glass microcapillary. It allows us to determine both the compressive and the shear modulus of a deformable object in one single experiment. Measurements on a model system of poly-acrylamide microgel particles exhibit excellent agreement with measurements on bulk gels of identical composition. Our approach is applicable over a wide range of mechanical properties and should thus be a valuable tool for the characterization of a variety of soft and biological materials.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.0032

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