Hi all,

I'm attempting to bond bulk gelatin gels to PDMS in the following conformation: □□□ (first and last squares are PDMS, middle square is gelatin; couple of mm in thickness). The application is stretching of gelatin gels. The PDMS is intended to provide a mechanically resilient location for gripping and subsequent stretching (directly gripping the gelatin would simply destroy it).

I'm currently trying out a two step plasma treatment protocol using acrylic acid (Design and Fabrication of Artificial Skin: Chitosan and Gelatin Immobilization on Silicone by Poly Acrylic Acid Graft Using a Plasma Surface Modification Method; Salati et al. 2011) but initial results aren't promising (no bonding at all).

Has anyone got any other experience with achieving a reliable mechanically-resilient bond between PDMS and gelatin? I appreciate that the bond is always going to be a weak point but I'd nevertheless like to test it.

Alternatively, does anyone know of another mechanically resilient gel (comparable to stiff PDMS) that bonds to gelatin relatively easily?

Thanks!