Stress distribution and surface shock wave of drop impact.

Drop impact causes severe surface erosion, dictating many important natural, environmental and engineering processes and calling for substantial prevention and preservation efforts. Nevertheless, despite extensive studies on the kinematic features of impacting drops over the last two decades, the dynamic process that leads to the drop-impact erosion is still far from clear. Here, we develop a method of high-speed stress microscopy, which measures the key dynamic properties of drop impact responsible for erosion, i.e., the shear stress and pressure distributions of impacting drops, with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolutions. Our experiments reveal the fast propagation of self-similar noncentral stress maxima underneath impacting drops and quantify the shear force on impacted substrates. Moreover, we examine the deformation of elastic substrates under impact and uncover impact-induced surface shock waves. Our study opens the door for quantitative measurements of the impact stress of liquid drops and sheds light on the origin of low-speed drop-impact erosion.

Explosion cratering in 3D granular media.

Sudden release of energy in an explosion creates craters in granular media. In comparison with well-studied impact cratering in granular media, our understanding of explosion cratering is still primitive. Here, we study low-energy lab-scale explosion cratering in 3D granular media using controlled pulses of pressurized air. We identify four regimes of explosion cratering at different burial depths, which are associated with distinct explosion dynamics and result in different crater morphologies. We propose a general relation between the dynamics of granular flows and the surface structures of the resulting craters. Moreover, we measure the diameter of explosion craters as a function of explosion pressure, duration and burial depth. We find that the size of the craters is non-monotonic with increasing burial depth, reaching a maximum at an intermediate burial depth. In addition, the crater diameter shows a weak dependence on explosion pressure and duration at small burial depths. We construct a simple model to explain this finding. Finally, we explore the scaling relations of the size of explosion craters. Despite the huge difference in energy scales, we find that the diameter of explosion craters in our experiments follows the same cube root energy scaling as explosion cratering at high energies. We also discuss the dependence of rescaled crater sizes on the inertial number of granular flows. These results shed light on the rich dynamics of 3D explosion cratering and provide new insights into the general physical principles governing granular cratering processes.

Enhanced bone morphogenic property of parylene-C.

The ability to induce osteointegration was introduced to a parylene-C surface via the simple and intuitive process of protein adsorption mediated by hydrophobic interactions. In this way, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2, fibronectin, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) could be immobilized on parylene-C surfaces. This approach alleviates concerns related to the use of potentially harmful substances in parylene-C modification processes. The adsorbed protein molecules were quantitatively characterized with respect to adsorption efficacy and binding affinity, and the important biological activities of the proteins were also examined using both early and late markers of osteogenetic activity, including alkaline phosphatase expression, calcium mineralization and marker gene expression. Additionally, the adsorbed PRP exhibited potential as a substitute for expensive recombinant growth factors by effectively inducing comparable osteogenetic activity. In addition to the excellent biocompatibility of parylene-C and its ability to coat a wide variety of substrate materials, the modification of parylene-C via protein adsorption provides unlimited possibilities for installing specific biological functions, expanding the potential applications of this material to include various biointerface platforms.

Multifaceted and route-controlled "click" reactions based on vapor-deposited coatings.

"Click" reactions provide precise and reliable chemical transformations for the preparation of functional architectures for biomaterials and biointerfaces. The emergence of a multiple-click reaction strategy has paved the way for a multifunctional microenvironment with orthogonality and precise multitasking that mimics nature. We demonstrate a multifaceted and route-controlled click interface using vapor-deposited functionalized poly-para-xylylenes. Distinctly clickable moieties of ethynyl and maleimide were introduced into poly-para-xylylenes in one step via a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) copolymerization process. The advanced interface coating allows for a double-click route with concurrent copper(i)-catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC) and the thiol-maleimide click reaction. Additionally, double-click reactions can also be performed in a cascade manner by controlling the initiation route to enable the CuAAC and/or thiol-yne reaction using a mono-functional alkyne-functionalized poly-para-xylylene. The use of multifaceted coatings to create straightforward and orthogonal interface properties with respect to protein adsorption and cell attachment is demonstrated and characterized.

Tunable coverage of immobilized biomolecules for biofunctional interface design.

The controlled coverage of immobilized biomolecules is introduced, illustrating a concept for designing biomaterial surfaces such that the extent of manipulation employed to elicit biological responses is controlled according to density changes in the underlying chemical motifs and the density of immobilized biomolecules.

Sustained immobilization of growth factor proteins based on functionalized parylenes.

Protein molecules immobilized on biomaterial surfaces are performed based on oriented conjugation or replaced mimicking peptides. The sustainable immobilization of growth factor proteins using functionalized parylene coatings is demonstrated in this study. Site-specific and nonspecific immobilization approaches are realized to conjugate bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2). The binding affinities and conformational changes of BMP-2 are confirmed by QCM and SPR characterizations. Osteoinduction of stem cells is examined by ALP activity on the BMP-2 modified surfaces. Finally, immobilizations and equally sustained biological functions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and a mimicking peptide of KLTWQELYQLKYKG (QK) are also examined and confirmed.