title: Microfluidic fabrication and permeation behaviors of uniform zwitterionic hydrogel microparticles and shells.
abstract: This study introduces a flexible and straightforward method for generating monodisperse complex hydrogel microparticles. For this, a water-in-oil emulsion was generated in a microcapillary device and then the emulsion drops were photo-polymerized to transfer them to hydrogel particles. The hydrogel microparticles were made of poly (2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) that has an enhanced biocompatibility due to the phosphatidyl choline moiety in the backbone. The average mesh size of the hydrogel network, which is 50Å, was estimated on the basis of the Peppas-Merrill equation. This mesh size was experimentally confirmed again by NMR cryoporometry analysis and permeation test for dextran probes. Furthermore, to diversify the applicability of microfluidic technology, an oil-in-water-in-oil double emulsion was also fabricated by using the co-axial jetting of three combined flows in the micro-channel. Then the aqueous shell was polymerized to give rise to hollow-structured hydrogel microparticles. Finally, we have shown that the microfluidic approach is useful for fabrication of complex hydrogel microparticles that have potential uses in drug immobilization and delivery.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Bionano Technology, Hanyang University, Ansan 426-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jonghee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Bionano Technology, Hanyang University, Ansan 426-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Aram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.affiliation: Amore-Pacific Co. R&D Center, Yongin 446-729, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Do-Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Amore-Pacific Co. R&D Center, Yongin 446-729, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Song Seok
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan 426-791, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kjh75@hanyang.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jong-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Bionano Technology, Hanyang University, Ansan 426-791, Republic of Korea; Dept. of Applied Chemistry, Hanyang University, Ansan 426-791, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kjwoong@hanyang.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jin Woong
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D020100:Hydrogels; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D044085:Microfluidics; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008863:Microspheres; D010539:Permeability
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels
keywords: Double emulsion; Hydrogel particles; Mesh size; Microfluidic; Permeation