Micromechanical Indentation Platform for Rapid Analysis of Viscoelastic Biomolecular Hydrogels

The advent of biomedical applications of soft bioinspired materials has
entailed an increasing demand for streamlined and expedient characterization
methods meant for both research and quality control objectives. Here, a novel
measurement system for the characterization of biological hydrogels with
volumes as low as 75 μL was developed. The system is based on an
indentation platform equipped with micrometer drive actuators that allow the
determination of both the fracture points and Young’s moduli of relatively stiff
polymers, including agarose, as well as the measurements of viscosity for
exceptionally soft and viscous hydrogels, such as DNA hydrogels. The
sensitivity of the method allows differentiation between DNA hydrogels
produced by rolling circle amplification based on different template sequences
and synthesis protocols. In addition, the polymerization kinetics of the
hydrogels can be determined by time-resolved measurements, and the
apparent viscosities of even more complex DNA-based nanocomposites can
be measured. The platform presented here thus offers the possibility to
characterize a broad variety of soft biomaterials in a targeted, fast, and
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cost-effective manner, holding promises for applications in fundamental
materials science and ensuring reproducibility in the handling of complex
materials.