From microfluidics to hierarchical hydrogel materials

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Niclas Weigel - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Yue Li - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Andreas Fery - , Chair of Physical Chemistry of Polymeric Materials, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Julian Thiele - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (Author)

Abstract

Over the past two decades, microfluidics has made significant contributions to material and life sciences, particularly via the design of nano-, micro- and mesoscale materials such as nanoparticles, micelles, vesicles, emulsion droplets, and microgels. Unmatched in control over a multitude of material parameters, microfluidics has also shed light on fundamental aspects of material design such as the early stages of nucleation and growth processes as well as structure evolution. Exemplarily, polymer hydrogel particles can be formed via microfluidics with exact control over size, shape, functionalization, compartmentalization, and mechanics that is hardly found in any other processing method. Interestingly, the utilization of microfluidics for material design largely focuses on the fabrication of single entities that act as reaction volume for organic and cell-free biosynthesis, cell mimics, or local environment for cell culturing. In recent years, however, hydrogel design has shifted towards structures that integrate a large variety of functions, e.g., to address the demands for sensing tasks in a complex environment or more closely mimicking architecture and organization of tissue by multiparametric cultures. Hence, this review provides an overview of recent literature that explores microfluidics for fabricating hydrogel materials that go well beyond common length scales as well as the structural and functional complexity of microgels necessary to produce hierarchical hydrogel structures. We focus on examples that utilize microfluidics to design microgel-based assemblies, on microfluidically made polymer microgels for 3D bioprinting, on hydrogels fabricated by microfluidics in a continuous fashion, like fibers, and on hydrogel structures that are shaped by microchannels.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number101673
Number of pages18
JournalCurrent Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science
Volume64
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

WOS 000927779400001

Keywords

Keywords

  • Cellular materials, Hierarchical materials, Hydrogels, Microfluidics, Multi-sclae structuring, &nbsp