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An inverse method is used to characterize the membrane mechanical behavior of liquid filled microcapsules. Cross-linked ovalbumin microcapsules are flowed and deformed into a cylindrical microchannel of comparable size. The deformed shape is compared to predictions obtained numerically when modeling a capsule under the same flow conditions. The unknown shear modulus value corresponds to the best fit. The degree of reticulation is estimated in parallel by determining the free amino groups remaining on the microcapsules after the cross-linking reaction. We characterize microcapsule populations fabricated at different reaction pH (5–8) and times (5–30min) to study different cross-linking degrees. The capsule shear modulus and the amino groups are nearly constant with the reaction pH for the capsules fabricated after 5min of reticulation. The shear modulus increases with the reaction time, while the NH …