Light-Driven Wettability Tailoring of Azopolymer Surfaces with Reconfigured Three-Dimensional Posts

Oscurato, Stefano Luigi; Borbone, Fabio; Maddalena, P.; Ambrosio, Antonio

doi:10.1021/acsami.7b08025

Cited by 67 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…In agreement with our previous experimental findings [19] and results from literature [20,21], we observe a directional mass migration of the polymer along the polarization direction. For a quantitative analysis, the mean roundness parameter is evaluated for each frame as the ratio between the minor ( ) and the major axis ( ) averaged over 20 microwells within a single field-of view of the microscope.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

“…The image analysis reveals that an average roundness of about 1 is achieved after further 200 seconds of irradiation. Such reversible modification is advantageously promoted by an improved stiffness of the polymeric mixture due to the presence of a stabilizing PMMA component, as suggested elsewhere in other copolymer matrices containing azobenzenes [19][20][21][22]. We underline here that the role of PMMA seems to be crucial for reversibility, since with pure PAZO structures we were not able to restore the pristine shape.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Alternatively, the microwells can be reduced in size without changing the roundness till an almost complete closing is reached. Tuning the morphology of surface microstructures might provide a smart engineered platform where surface properties can be engineered on demand after fabrication [19,20]. The light-induced contraction and expansion based reshaping of polymeric microstructures shows exciting potential for several applications including microfluidics and lithography and, in the last years, is showing its potential application in biology, where cells behavior can be regulated in response to material manipulation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reversible Shaping of Microwells by Polarized Light Irradiation

Pirani

Angelini

Frascella

et al. 2017

International Journal of Polymer Science

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In the last years, stimuli-responsive polymeric materials have attracted great interest, due to their low cost and ease of structuration over large areas combined with the possibility to actively manipulate their properties. In this work, we propose a polymeric pattern of soft-imprinted microwells containing azobenzene molecules. The shape of individual elements of the pattern can be controlled after fabrication by irradiation with properly polarized light. By taking advantage of the light responsivity of the azobenzene compound, we demonstrate the possibility to reversibly modulate a contraction-expansion of wells from an initial round shape to very narrow slits. We also show that the initial shape of the microconcavities can be restored by flipping the polarization by 90∘ . The possibility to reversibly control the final shape of individual elements of structured surfaces offers the opportunity to engineer surface properties dynamically, thus opening new perspectives for several applications.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reversible Shaping of Microwells by Polarized Light Irradiation

Pirani

Angelini

Frascella

et al. 2017

International Journal of Polymer Science

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Section: Light Control Over Biosurface Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photoreversible Soft Azo Dye Materials: Toward Optical Control of Bio‐Interfaces

Chang

Fedele

Priimägi

et al. 2019

Advanced Optical Materials

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systems interact with artificial materials, researchers have now assembled a versatile toolkit of materials and processes that allows one to fine-tune interactions at the interface, tailoring specific biological responses on demand. These strategies for biocontrol can be broadly categorized as chemical (charge, ligand presence, surface groups), material changes (moisture content, stiffness), or morphological changes (molecular orientation, surface topography, or mechanical actuation). Rational design of materials for biological interface applications has a unique set of challenges due to the unique requirements of a wide range of biological systems, since different tissues present specific compositions, with their own elasticity, structural organization, and triggering mechanisms. Even within a single organ or tissue, mechanical properties can vary widely depending on the region. A recent study of viscoelasticity in live mouse brain tissue for example found a tenfold difference within the brain depending on the region and morphological structure studied. [2] However, most biological tissues are far less stiff, and far more viscoelastic than typical artificial materials employed at their interface, especially early artificial cell culture materials, which can be much stiffer than in vivo extracellular matrix by many orders of magnitude. [3] In vivo, cells interface with a surrounding microenvironment consisting of an intricate macromolecular network of proteins and sugars swollen in an aqueous media gel. Therefore, the interaction between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the body is complex and involves a variety of cues related to topography, chemical markers, protein composition, solubility factors, and mechanical properties such as stiffness and elasticity (Figure 1a). [4] Yet much research over the past decades was focused on studying in vitro the effects of each of these signals on cell behavior, with a particular interest on the chemical factors, whereas only recently more advanced biomaterials with controlled physicomechanical properties have been developed, such as those with tunable and variable stiffness, alignment and orientation of key functional groups, and mechanical actuation. There is a large range of stiffness in human tissue, where bone (≈100 GPa) is nine orders of magnitude harder than brain tissue (≈0.1 kPa). [4] Therefore, biomaterial researchers assume a complex task of providing materials and processing technologies for controlling stiffness and micro-and nanostructures in Photoreversible optically switchable azo dye molecules in polymer-based materials can be harnessed to control a wide range of physical, chemical, and mechanical material properties in response to light, that can be exploited for optical control over the bio-interface. As a stimulus for reversibly influencing adjacent biological cells or tissue, light is an ideal triggering mechanism, since it can be highly localized (in time and space) for precise and dynamic control over a biosystem, and low-power visible light...

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“…[45][46][47] The extent of the pillar cross-section elongations is determined by the polarization direction of the illuminating light field, and can be made reversible as well depending on the chemical formulation and mechanical properties of the azopolymeric blend. [45][46][47] The extent of the pillar cross-section elongations is determined by the polarization direction of the illuminating light field, and can be made reversible as well depending on the chemical formulation and mechanical properties of the azopolymeric blend.…”

Section: Doi: 101002/advs201801826mentioning

confidence: 99%

Driving Cells with Light‐Controlled Topographies

et al. 2019

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Cell–substrate interactions can modulate cellular behaviors in a variety of biological contexts, including development and disease. Light‐responsive materials have been recently proposed to engineer active substrates with programmable topographies directing cell adhesion, migration, and differentiation. However, current approaches are affected by either fabrication complexity, limitations in the extent of mechanical stimuli, lack of full spatio‐temporal control, or ease of use. Here, a platform exploiting light to plastically deform micropatterned polymeric substrates is presented. Topographic changes with remarkable relief depths in the micron range are induced in parallel, by illuminating the sample at once, without using raster scanners. In few tens of seconds, complex topographies are instructed on demand, with arbitrary spatial distributions over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Proof‐of‐concept data on breast cancer cells and normal kidney epithelial cells are presented. Both cell types adhere and proliferate on substrates without appreciable cell damage upon light‐induced substrate deformations. User‐provided mechanical stimulation aligns and guides cancer cells along the local deformation direction and constrains epithelial colony growth by biasing cell division orientation. This approach is easy to implement on general‐purpose optical microscopy systems and suitable for use in cell biology in a wide variety of applications.

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Light-Driven Wettability Tailoring of Azopolymer Surfaces with Reconfigured Three-Dimensional Posts

Cited by 67 publications

References 73 publications

Reversible Shaping of Microwells by Polarized Light Irradiation

Reversible Shaping of Microwells by Polarized Light Irradiation

Photoreversible Soft Azo Dye Materials: Toward Optical Control of Bio‐Interfaces

Driving Cells with Light‐Controlled Topographies

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