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Optically Responsive and Mechanically Tunable Colloid‐In‐Liquid Crystal Gels that Support Growth of Fibroblasts
Author(s) -
Agarwal Ankit,
Huang Elise,
Palecek Sean,
Abbott Nicholas L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.200800932
Subject(s) - materials science , colloid , polystyrene , micrometer , nanotechnology , liquid crystal , chemical engineering , composite material , optics , polymer , optoelectronics , engineering , physics
Whereas low molecular weight liquid crystals (LCs) are too soft to support the culture of fibroblast cells , gels formed by polystyrene microparticles dispersed in LCs can be mechanically tuned to support the cell culture. These self‐supporting gels can be readily molded, thus facilitating their use for cell culture, and they contain micrometer‐sized domains of LCs that can be oriented by interactions at the surfaces confining the gels.