“Soft (bio)materials characterization” Core Facility

Biomechanics Core Facility

The mechanical properties of materials not only control physical functions, but also a still unknown number of biological functions. At the same time, biological systems can change their own mechanical properties, as well as the mechanical properties of their environment, for example in cancer or wound healing. An important task in the engineering of novel molecular systems for biomaterial applications is to characterize the mechanical properties of biological and synthetic materials. The results can have far-reaching implications for understanding and controlling the mechanobiology of tumormicroenvironments, organoids, implant materials, and of biomaterials in general.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Standardize reproducible mechanical characterizations of soft (bio)materials, tissues and cells

• As biomaterials are typically viscoelastic and porous, we particularly aim at integrating methods that allow for the quatification of elastic properties (both in tension and compression), viscoelastic properties, and hardness of materials

• Specific sample preparation methods useful for some of the characterization