Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Gels that Serve as Mucus Simulants: A Review
Version 1
: Received: 1 June 2023 / Approved: 2 June 2023 / Online: 2 June 2023 (09:57:48 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Vinod, A.; Tadmor, R.; Katoshevski, D.; Gutmark, E.J. Gels That Serve as Mucus Simulants: A Review. Gels 2023, 9, 555. Vinod, A.; Tadmor, R.; Katoshevski, D.; Gutmark, E.J. Gels That Serve as Mucus Simulants: A Review. Gels 2023, 9, 555.
Abstract
Mucus is a critical part of the human body’s immune system which traps and carries away various particulates such as anthropogenic pollutants, pollen, viruses etc. Various synthetic hydrogels have been developed to mimic mucus, using different polymers as their backbones. Common to these simulants is a three-dimensional gel network which is physically crosslinked and is capable of loosely entrapping water within. Two of the challenges in mimicking mucus using synthetic hydrogels include the need to mimic the rheological properties of the mucus and its ability to capture particulates (its adhesion mechanism). In this paper, we review the existing mucus simulants and discuss their rheological, adhesive and tribological properties. We show that most, but not all, simulants indeed mimic the rheological properties of the mucus but only one mimics the ability of mucus to capture particulates.
Keywords
Mucus; synthetic hydrogels; polymers; gel networks
Subject
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Comments (0)
We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.
Leave a public commentSend a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
