title: Responsive polymer welds via solution casting for stabilized self-assembly.
abstract: We present a simple solution casting technique to apply polymer welds to stabilize capillary-force directed self-assembled systems including arrays of pillars and microbeads. The strength of the polymer welds can be enhanced by increasing either the polymer concentration or molecular weight. The use of responsive polymers to form the welds allow for the fabrication of hierarchical structures that actuate in response to external stimuli. For example, temperature-responsive and pH-responsive microstructures can be formed by solution casting poly(vinyl methyl ether) and poly(methacrylic acid), respectively. We demonstrate that polymer welds formed using biocompatible alginate allows for controllable release of microbeads in microfluidic channels, which has potential applications in drug delivery.
authors.affiliation: Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
authors.forename: Benny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Carson T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Riche
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: Malancha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gupta