The document describes honeycomb polymer films that are created using a self-assembly process. The films have hexagonally ordered pores with spherical inner walls and apertures connecting pores. The process aims to create synthetic multicellular structures that mimic tissues for life science applications by manipulating conditions like temperature, humidity, airflow, and polymer concentrations to control the pore size. Precise control of pore size is important for applications like cell culturing and separation membranes.

1. Honeycomb
Polymer
Films
By
Dev
Gulati
Department
of
Materials
Science
and
Engineering

2. * Hexagonal-­‐ordered
pores
* Narrow-­‐size
distribution
* Spherical
inner
walls
* Inner
Apertures
connecting
contiguous
pores
Properties
Schematic
Diagram
SEM
image

3. * To
create
synthetic
multicellular
structures
which
mimics
tissues
for
life
science
by
manipulating
certain
conditions
and
seeing
how
it
affects
the
pore
size
* Desirable
Pore
Size:
5
µm
(micrometers)
* Current
Pore
Size:
2
–
3
µm
Aim

4. * The
honeycomb
structure
acts
as
a
“supporter”
for
the
artificial
cells,
and
the
size
of
them
is
5
micrometers,
so
for
each
cell
to
fit
in
the
pore,
the
pore
size
has
to
be
micrometers.
Why
is
Pore
Size
important?

5. * Separation
membranes
* Superhydrophobic
films
* Photonic
devices
* Cell-­‐culturing
substrates
* Templates
for
micro-­‐
manufacturing
Applications

6. * 2
Micro
pipettes
(both
have
different
capacity)
* 240
mg
of
PLA
(Poly-­‐lactic
Acid)
* 2
mg
of
DOPE
(L-­‐alpha-­‐Phosphatidylethanolamine)
* 26
mL
of
Chloroform
(24
for
PLA
and
2
for
DOPE)
* 1
beaker
with
400
mL
of
water
* Ultrasonic
machine
* Electric
balance
* Air
pump
* Anemometer
* Funnel
* Hygrometer
* Bubbler
tube
Materials

7. Micro
pipette
Test
tubes
and
flasks

8. Hygrometer
Funnel
Beaker
with
400
mL
of
water
Anemometer
Air
Pump
Bubbler
tube

9. 1.
Use
the
electric
balance
to
measure
240
mg
of
PLA
and
2
mg
of
DOPE
and
put
them
in
different
test
tubes.
Procedure:
Step
1

10. 2.
Use
the
micropipette
to
put
24
mL
of
chloroform
in
the
PLA
test
tube,
and
to
put
2
mL
of
chloroform
in
the
DOPE
test
tube.
Use
an
ultrasonic
machine
to
dissolve
the
PLA
and
DOPE
into
the
chloroform.
Procedure:
Step
2

11. 3.
Use
an
air
pump,
anemometer,
2
tubes,
a
beaker
with
400mL
of
water,
a
hygrometer,
a
funnel,
and
a
bubbler
tube
to
make
a
machine
that
uses
self-­‐assembly
to
make
the
honeycomb
structures.
Procedure:
Step
3

12. 4.
Wait
until
hygrometer
reads
around
90%.
Put
the
slide
and
micro
cover
glass
and
wait
for
1
minute.
Next,
cast
the
polymer
solution
and
wait
for
5
minutes
before
taking
out
the
funnel
and
waiting
20
minutes
for
the
solution
to
dry.
Procedure:
Step
4

13. 5.
After
20
minutes,
the
honeycomb
structure
is
ready
to
be
analyzed
in
the
microscope.
Procedure:
Step
5

15. 6.
After
taking
a
picture
of
the
honeycomb
structure,
open
up
an
application
called
imageJ.
With
this
application,
you
can
use
a
technique
called
Fourier
Transform,
in
which
you
can
get
the
exact
measure
of
the
pore
size.
Procedure:
Step
6

16.
How
does
this
work?

17. * Temperature:
25ºC
* Humidity:
85%
-­‐
90%
* Airflow:
0.8
mL/min
* Concentration
PLA
:
DOPE
=
240mg/24mL
:
2mg/2mL
=
10
mg/mL
:
1
mg/mL
=
10
:
1
Standard
Conditions

18. Temperature
(ºC)
Reading
1
(µm)
Reading
2
(µm)
Reading
3
(µm)
Average
(µm)
25
3.994
4.096
3.662
3.917
35
3.551
3.33
3.544
3.475
45
3.651
3.572
3.536
3.586
55
4.529
4.352
4.216
4.366
65
4.717
4.451
4.427
4.532
75
4.324
4.332
4.158
4.271
Data
Table:
Temperature
vs.
Pore
Size

19. Graph:
Temperature
vs.
Pore
Size
10ºC
0.4
µm
Slope
=
∆Y/∆X
Slope
=
0.4µm/10ºC
(50,
4.0)
(60,
4.4)

20. Data
Table:
Concentration
vs.
Pore
Size
Concentration
(PLA/
DOPE)
Reading
1
(µm)
Reading
2
(µm)
Reading
3
(µm)
Average
(µm)
5/1
4.207
4.023
4.379
4.203
8/1
3.475
3.379
3.393
3.416
10/1
3.8
3.915
3.8
3.838
13/1
2.845
2.627
2.563
2.678
15/1
2.488
2.49
2.568
2.515

21. Graph:
Concentration
vs.
Pore
Size
(9,
3.5)
(13,
2.8)
4
mg
-­‐
0.7
µm
Slope
=
∆Y/∆X
Slope
=
-­‐0.7
µm/4
mg
(mg/mL)

22. * As
Temperature
increases,
Pore
Size
increases.
* Raising
the
temperature
of
the
400
mL
water
by
10ºC
increases
the
pore
size
by
0.4
µm.
* As
Concentration
increases,
Pore
Size
decreases.
* Adding
4
mg
of
PLA
to
the
solution
decreases
the
pore
size
by
about
0.7
µm
Conclusion

23. How
does
it
work?
Why
does
that
happen?
Challenges

24. Thank
you!!!

25. Thank
you
for
listening!!
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