Thermal expansion measurements of cryoprotective agents. Part II: measurements of DP6 and VS55, and comparison with DMSO.

As part of an ongoing effort to characterize the mechanical behavior of biological tissues in the cryogenic temperature range, the current study focuses on thermal expansion measurements of cryoprotective agents. Utilizing the experimental apparatus described in the previous report (Part I), the current report (Part II) includes thermal expansion measurements of the cryoprotectant mixtures DP6 and VS55, and comparison with available data from the literature on DMSO. In the temperature range in which the cryoprotectant mixture behaves like low viscosity liquid, results of this study show that the thermal expansion coefficient of VS55 and DP6 is 22% and 40% lower than that of 3M DMSO, respectively, where 3M DMSO is only one component of each cryoprotectant mixture. This significant difference is attributed to the presence of 3M formamide in VS55.