Mechanical writing of electrical polarization in poly (L-lactic) acid *

resumo

Stimuli responsive materials are found in a broad range of applications, from energy harvesters to biomolecular sensors. Here, we report the production of poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) thin films that exhibit a mechanical stress responsive behaviour. By simply applying a mechanical stress through an AFM tip, a local electrical polarization was generated and measured by Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy. We showed that the magnitude of the stress generated electrical polarization can be manipulated by varying the thickness or crystallization state of the PLLA thin films. Besides exhibiting a mechanical stress-response behaviour with potential for energy harvesting and sensor applications, we show by AFM that these plat-forms react to mechanical forces with physiological relevance: interaction forces as low as a cell sheet migrating over a substrate or larger ones as the fluid induced stresses in bone tissue. In living tissues, as most mechanical stimuli are transduced as strain gradients for the anatomical structures, these me-chanically responsive substrates can be used as ex vivo platforms to study the protein and cells response over a large range of electrical stimuli amplitude. As a proof of concept, selective adsorption of a human fibronectin was demonstrated by local patterning of the stimuli responsive PLLA films.Statement of significance Bioelectricity is inherent to the formation and repair of living tissues and electrical stimulation has been recognized for promoting regeneration. Given the proven beneficial effects of electric fields and the ab-sence of a suitable method of stimulation, there is a clinical need for smart substrates, which can generate a polarization (charges) to promote tissue regeneration without the need of external devices. In this work, we report the fabrication of poly(L-lactic) acid platforms that exhibit a mechanical stress responsive be-haviour when subjected to physiologically relevant forces. This behaviour can be tailored by varying the thickness or crystallization state of the PLLA films. We further demonstrate the biofunctionality of such platforms by exploiting the mechanically-induced charge for adhesion protein adsorption.(c) 2021 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

palavras-chave

MOLECULAR-WEIGHT; SHEAR-STRESS; SURFACE; REGENERATION; PROGRESSION; SCAFFOLDS; BEHAVIOR; INJURY; FILMS; LIMB

categoria

Engineering; Materials Science

autores

Barroca, N; Collins, LJ; Rodriguez, BM; Fernandes, MHV; Vilarinho, PM

nossos autores

agradecimentos

This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007679 (FCT Ref. UID/CTM/50011/2013), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. This work was also financed by Portugal 2020 through European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the frame of Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (POCI), in the scope of the project Advanced BioMEMs for tissue engineering: applications in hard tissue (BioMEMs), POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032095.

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