Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 21: Biopolymers, biomaterials and bioinspired functional materials (joint session CPP/BP)
BP 21.9: Talk
Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 18:15–18:30, H13
Towards an artificial human nail plate — •Kim Thomann1, Andreas Späth1, and Rainer H. Fink1,2 — 1Lehrstuhl für Physikalische Chemie II, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany — 2CENEM, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
Human fingernails cannot be studied ex vivo with the same ease as for example hair since only clippings can be obtained which do not necessarily reflect the behavior of the whole nail. Thus, we aim to create an artificial nail plate model that resembles the adhesive characteristics of the human finger nail suited for ex vivo studies. In order to mimic the surface free energy (SFE) as well as the morphology of the nail, we first investigated the surface properties of the natural fingernail using a number of methods. In vivo contact angle (CA) measurements were performed to determine the SFE. Water CAs along resin replicas of fingernails were measured and scanning electron micrographs were taken to correlate SFE with topography. Our first approach for an artificial nail plate model is based on mixed alkane thiol self-assembled monolayers, terminated with either -OH or -COOH and -CH3. CA measurements revealed that either the total SFE or the relation between the polar and dispersive component could be replicated, but both requirements could not be met simultaneously. Thus, micro-contact printing (micro-CP) is considered to produce patterned SAMs at various periods to match the nail's microstructure.