Robust and Gradient Thickness Porous Membranes for In Vitro Modeling of Physiological Barriers.

ABSTRACT: Porous membranes are fundamental elements for tissue-chip barrier and co-culture models. However, the exaggerated thickness of commonly available membranes may represent a stumbling block impeding a more accurate in vitro modeling. Existing techniques to fabricate membranes such as solvent cast, spin-coating, sputtering and PE-CVD result in uniform thickness films. Here, we developed a robust method to generate ultrathin porous parylene C (UPP) membranes not just with precise thicknesses down to 300 nm, but with variable gradients in thicknesses, while at the same time having porosities up to 25%. We also show surface etching and increased roughness lead to improved cell attachment. Next, we examined the mechanical properties of UPP membranes with varying porosity and thickness and fit our

SUBMITTER: Gholizadeh S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7942760 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature