Experimental and Finite Element Analysis of Soft Nanopillars for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

The main objectives of this work are i) synthesise low aspect ratio soft nanopillars of the non-uniform cross-sectional area (tapered) on a polymeric substrate and ii) Design of soft nanopillars applying finite element technique. In this work, the nano-pillars are developed on a flat elastomeric substrate using well-established ball indentation technique. Soft elastomeric nanopillars of height ranging from 50 nm to 500 nm are prepared. Finite element simulations are performed to understand the large deformation behaviour of the elastomer. Different parameters such as indenter diameter, the shape of the indenter and elastomer properties are considered to tune the nanopillar height and width. These high aspect ratio nanopillars on flat surfaces can find many potential applications in recent days. In particular, these nano-pillar surfaces can be efficiently applied in the biomedical fields such as cell mechanics studies and biosensors. In these studies, nanopillar devices are implemented as a means to study cell–substrate, and cell to cell interactions. The stiffness and the deflection characteristics of these nanopillars are extremely necessary for biomedical applications.