3D PDMS TRANSPARENT MICROMODELS SIMULATING A FOOD MATRIX: MICROMODEL FABRICATION PROTOCOL AND PRELIMINARY DRYING EXPERIMENTS.
ABSTRACT- 2D micromodels have traditionally been fabricated with glass and resin and have been very effective instruments to observe and quantify liquid distribution and transport mechanisms involved in processes such as drying. Since they are built with rigid materials, phenomena such as shrinkage and matrix deformation can only be indirectly studied. A new method based on the traditional photolithographic technique has been developed to fabricate deformable micromodels. This technique uses an elastomeric material called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This study describes the fabrication protocol for fabricating 3D deformable transparent PDMS micromodels with a log-normal pore size distribution .This study provides preliminary results involving drying curves and shrinkage. PDMS micromodels are a useful tool to determine the liquid transport mechanism involved in drying and impregnation in porous structures that simulate a food matrix.