Abstract
Many different techniques have been reported for the generation of monodisperse microgels, however, control over shape and material composition without overcomplicating the set-up remains difficult. While some batch processing techniques can produce high resolution complex shapes, they offer less flexibility. Microfluidic techniques, on the contrary, are ideal tools for generating monodisperse droplets as precursors for soft microbeads. Unfortunately, microfluidic tools have not yet been utilized to their full potential, commonly generating spherical droplets consisting of one material only.Here, we combine aqueous-phase-separation with microfluidics to generate double emulsions. Depending on the materials used, microgels having either asymmetry in shape or asymmetry in material composition are obtained. We show the versatility of this microfluidic design to generate biocompatible microparticles of two or more immiscible, aqueous solutions of which at least one is polymerizable and give a detailed description on how to make these microparticles including some crucial handling steps.
Highlights
Soft microparticles can be made through many different techniques including, but not limited to, 3D-printing, [1,2] imprinting and micro molding techniques, [3,4] and several microfluidic techniques. [5,6] there is little variety among the resulting beads
The microfluidic chip is connected to three syringe pumps, one for each solution using PTFE tubing of which the inner diameter matches the needle diameter of the syringes and the outer diameter matches the diameter of the inlets and outlet of the microfluidic chip
Monodisperse microbeads we utilize microfluidic techniques based on aqueous two-phase systems (ATPSs) to generate double emulsions, Fig. 1
Summary
Soft microparticles can be made through many different techniques including, but not limited to, 3D-printing, [1,2] imprinting and micro molding techniques, [3,4] and several microfluidic techniques. [5,6] there is little variety among the resulting beads. [5,6] there is little variety among the resulting beads While the former techniques allow for more freedom for precisely defining shapes, they rely on high-resolution patterning requiring specialized and highresolution equipment which is not accessible to the general scientific community. These techniques are limited by their batchprocessing nature and the introduction of chemical anisotropy will result in multiple processing steps. Examples of anisotropy in shape and material composition are limited and are usually based on in-flow polymerization without any stable precursor droplets. The lack of stable precursor droplets adds a timerestraint to an already complex process
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