The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 01, 2024
Filed:
Mar. 24, 2021
The Governing Council of the University of Toronto, Toronto, CA;
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Inc., Boston, MA (US);
Lian Leng, Lasalle, CA;
Stephanie Grainger, Stoneham, MA (US);
Elliot L. Chaikof, Newton, MA (US);
Axel Guenther, Toronto, CA;
David Miranda Nieves, Somerville, MA (US);
Shashi Malladi, Toronto, CA;
Richard Cheng, Toronto, CA;
THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, Toronto, CA;
BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER, INC., Boston, MA (US);
Abstract
Systems, devices and methods are provided for fabricating anisotropic polymer materials. According to various embodiments, a fluidic device is employed to distribute a polymer solution and a flow-confining solution in order to generate a layered flow, where the layered flow is formed such that a polymer liquid sheet is sheathed on opposing sides by flow-confining liquid sheets. The fluidic device includes first and second fluid conduits, where the first fluid conduit receives the layered flow. The second fluid conduit has a reduced height relative to the first fluid conduit, such that the layered flow is constricted as it flows through the second fluid conduit. The constriction formed by the second flow conduit causes hydrodynamic focusing, reducing the thickness of the polymer liquid sheet, and inducing molecular alignment and anisotropy within the polymer liquid sheet as it is hardened and as strain is applied during extrusion of the sheet.