Monodisperse polyethylene glycol diacrylate hydrogel microsphere formation by oxygen-controlled photopolymerization in a microfluidic device.

ABSTRACT: PEG-based hydrogels have become widely used as drug delivery and tissue scaffolding materials. Common among PEG hydrogel-forming polymers are photopolymerizable acrylates such as polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA). Microfluidics and microfabrication technologies have recently enabled the miniaturization of PEGDA structures, thus enabling many possible applications for nano- and micro- structured hydrogels. The presence of oxygen, however, dramatically inhibits the photopolymerization of PEGDA, which in turn frustrates hydrogel formation in environments of persistently high oxygen concentration. Using PEGDA that has been emulsified in fluorocarbon oil via microfluidic flow focusing within polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) devices, we show that polymerization is completely inhibited below crit

SUBMITTER: Krutkramelis K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4829474 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature