title: Microfluidic Fabrication of Bio-Inspired Microfibers with Controllable Magnetic Spindle-Knots for 3D Assembly and Water Collection.
abstract: A simple and flexible approach is developed for controllable fabrication of spider-silk-like microfibers with tunable magnetic spindle-knots from biocompatible calcium alginate for controlled 3D assembly and water collection. Liquid jet templates with volatile oil drops containing magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles are generated from microfluidics for fabricating spider-silk-like microfibers. The structure of jet templates can be precisely adjusted by simply changing the flow rates to tailor the structures of the resultant spider-silk-like microfibers. The microfibers can be well manipulated by external magnetic fields for controllably moving, and patterning and assembling into different 2D and 3D structures. Moreover, the dehydrated spider-silk-like microfibers, with magnetic spindle-knots for collecting water drops, can be controllably assembled into spider-web-like structures for excellent water collection. These spider-silk-like microfibers are promising as functional building blocks for engineering complex 3D scaffolds for water collection, cell culture, and tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Heng
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ying-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ming-Yue
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhuang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jie
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: †School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, No. 24, Southern 1 Section, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.|‡State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Liang-Yin
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide / Q000737:chemistry; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D044085:Microfluidics; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D014867:Water; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide
keywords: biomimetic microfibers; magnetic assembly; microfluidics; template synthesis; water collection