Figure 2.

Images of equipment for experiemental setup (a) Tapered specimens clipped in a dialysis membrane of 64 mm (Spectra/ Por®; molecular weight cut off 6–8 kDa) for osmotic adaptation. The samples were submerged in a 5.0 wt-percent/0.02 wt-percent Tris-PEG solution on a shaking table at 4 °C for 24 hours prior to the tensile tests. (b) Specimen after layout following the tapering with the template shown in c. (c) To ensure comparable testing conditions specimens were tapered uniformly using a 3D-printed template adapted from the ISO 527-2 standard. (d) 3D-printed clamps with pyramids at their contact surface to the specimen were used to minimize material slippage when testing. (e) The specimen is mounted with clamps. A 3D-printed desk is used to assure consistent clamp-to-clamp distances in all specimens.