• Biofabrication
• Elastin-Like Polypeptides
• Graphene Oxide
• Organ on a chip

Microfluidics refers to a set of technologies for the manipulation of small fluid volumes (mL) within artificially microsystems. Among the microfluidic systems, there are Organ-On-Chip (OOC), microfluidic devices for culturing living cells in continuously perfusion, with the aim of modelling the physiological functions of tissues and organs. OOC devices can be used not only to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the development of a blood vessel but also as experimental platforms for vascular disease models and drug screening.
This thesis is focused on the fabrication of a microfluidic system using a group of materials called Elastin-Like Polypeptides (ELP). In particular, a material capable of self-assembling (ELK1) inside graphene oxide (GO) has been used. In order to achieve this objective, diffusivity at the membrane interface and biofabrication tests were carried out.