Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.S.C.H.
Degree Name
MS in Chemical Engineering (M.S.C.H.)
Degree Granting Department
Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering
Major Professor
Ryan G. Toomey, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Nathan D. Gallant, Ph.D.
Committee Member
David S. Simmons, Ph.D.
Keywords
Bulk swelling ratio, line swelling ratio, responsive polymers, buckling ratio
Abstract
The main goal of this study was to learn more about swelling induced buckling of surface-attached gel lines photo-patterned from thermally responsive polymers. A library of 10 different polymer compositions was synthesized using methacryloyloxybenzophenone (MABP) as the photo-cross-linking monomer. For each of the polymers, a series of beam-like patterns were prepared on polystyrene tissue culture dishes by first depositing a known amount of polymer into the tissue culture dish followed by pattern generation using a photo-lithography mask with line widths of 10, 20, 30, 50, and 80 μm. The target height of each polymer line was 100 μm. After development of the polymer lines, the lines were exposed to both deionized water and ethanol at room temperature. Using optical microscopy, buckling was observed in most cases. In the case of buckling, the following three properties were measured: buckle wavelength, buckle amplitude, and the contour length of the buckle. As each of these properties depended on the line width, they were also plotted as a function of width and extrapolated to zero width using a linear fit. Moreover, bulk swelling measurements were performed on each polymer. The exhaustive amount of experimental data collected and subsequent analysis will help form a framework in which to test theoretical models of buckling.
Scholar Commons Citation
Kokaje, Chinar Yogesh, "Swelling Induced Buckling of Photopatterned Hydrogel Beams" (2023). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10057
