Bioinspired design of hydrogel-encapsulated underwater flow sensors

POLY 25

David Lu1, Michael E. McConney1, Tao Han2, Darrell H. Reneker, reneker@uakron.edu2, and Vladimir V. Tsukruk1. (1) School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, (2) Department of Polymer Science, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-3909
Bioinspiration has lead to the development of hair-like flow microsensors to mimic the neuromast structures of fish for underwater navigation. Polymer photoresist hair structures are coupled to conventional cantilever-based piezo-resistive strain sensors to emulate fish neuromasts by exploiting their mechanisms for the passive detection of fluid drag forces. Encapsulation of the flow sensor in a semi-permeable polymer hydrogel replicates the viscous cupula structure observed from fish neuromasts, and the incorporation of an artificial cupula structure on a mechanical flow sensor significantly improves the sensing characteristics exhibited. However, the mechanical properties of the artificial hydrogel materials do not allow for the structural durability of large cupula-to-hair aspect ratio geometries as observed in the neuromast structures. In order to replicate the nanofibrous skeletal structures observed to support high aspect-ratio neuromast geometries, electrospinning of polymer nanofibers was used for constructing framework structures to achieve analogous dimensions of artificial cupula.
 

Undergraduate Research in Polymer Science
8:15 AM-12:00 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- Grand Salon 16, Oral

Division of Polymer Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008