Towards softer and more tissue-resembling elastomers

Institute of Microengineering - Distinguished Lecture

Due to the covid-19 restrictions currently in place, the lecture will take place remotely by zoom only.

Zoom Live Stream: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/927149523

Abstract: Soft robotics put a demand forward for softer and softer materials with mechanical integrity and stability over time. Hydrogels are natural candidates with respect to the softness and to some extent with respect to the mechanical integrity, but over time, hydrogels change properties due to the change of water content. Silicone elastomers are the excellent for soft robotics due to their inherent softness, mechanical integrity and stability both with respect to temperature (between -100 and 300◦C) and deformation (mechanical stability for more than 100 mio cycles is not uncommon). However, silicone elastomers are challenged with demands of elastic moduli below ~500 kPa. Various network structures have been made to decrease the elastic moduli beyond the natural lower limit arising from the elastic response from entanglements. Amongst these structures are slide-ring elastomers, bottlebrush elastomers, and a completely novel type of elastomer where the origin of elasticity is currently not understood. The pros and cons of these network synthesis methods and the resulting properties will be discussed in this talk.

Bio: Anne Ladegaard Skov is a professor of polymer science and engineering specialising in design and utilization of silicone elastomers in the Danish Polymer Centre at Department of Chemical Engineering, DTU. She holds a PhD in polymer physics from DTU. She was a research fellow at Cambridge University, UK, before taking up a position as assistant professor at DTU. She has headed the Danish Polymer Centre sinde 2016. In 2018 she was promoted to full professor. She has worked with functionalisation and formulation of silicone elastomers with main focus on silicone elastomers used and optimised for dielectric elastomers and more recently for flexible electronics and drug delivery amongst others.


Note: The Seminar Series is eligible for ECTS credits in the EDMI doctoral program