title: Bonding of macromolecular hydrogels using perturbants.
abstract: This work describes a method to bond patterned macromolecular gels into monolithic structures using perturbants. Bonding strengths for a variety of solutes follow a Hofmeister ordering; this result and optical measurements indicate that bonding occurs by reversible perturbation of contacting gels. The resulting microfluidic gels are mechanically robust and can serve as scaffolds for cell culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Gavrielle M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Kengyeh K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: James G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Truslow
authors.forename: Min D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Tang-Schomer
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Golden
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mertz
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tien
mesh_terms: D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D012996:Solutions
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D012996:Solutions