Magnetic Drawing for the Optimized Production of Artifical Polymeric Cilia

• Grant number: 22/11455-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: October 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Caio Gomide Otoni
• Grantee: Mariana Pipolo Garcia
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/12071-6 - Tailoring colloids through supramolecular interactions: from fundamentals to applications, AP.TEM

Abstract

Because they play important physiological roles, biological cilia represent growing biomimetic inspiration for the production of artificial cilia, which may present responsiveness to external stimuli - e.g., magnetic field - if properly additivated. In this context, this research addresses composites of elastomeric matrix filled with magnetic particles, which allow the fabrication of elongated structures from the magnetic stretching of the silicon matrix and its subsequent remote manipulation by the imposition of an external magnetic field. Specifically, this project proposes to optimize the fabrication of artificial magnetic eyelashes by manipulating different processing parameters - e.g., dimensions (micro or nano) and concentration of magnetic particles; viscosity and volume of the precursor, uncured dispersion; and magnetic field strength. It is expected to get to know, correlate, and control the main process variables capable of tailoring the properties of the resulting cilia. The main envisioned application is in the biomedical area, specifically in the internal coating of prosthesis for patients with tracheal stenosis (T-tube), also made of silicone, in order to avoid the formation of polymicrobial biofilm. The strategy proposed here has the potential to act as an adjuvant in the internal cleaning of the luminal surface of silicone prostheses and to reduce local bacterial proliferation and its consequences.