title: Controllable generation and encapsulation of alginate fibers using droplet-based microfluidics.
abstract: Herein we demonstrate the segmentation of alginate solution streams to generate alginate fibers of precisely controllable lengths between 200 and 1000 μm. Moreover, we demonstrate the subsequent encapsulation of the formed fibers within pL-volume microdroplets, produced within the same microfluidic device, in a direct manner. Finally, we show immediate and complete on-chip gelation of alginate fibers in a rapid and reproducible fashion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir Prelog Weg 1, Zürich 8093, Switzerland. andrew.demello@chem.ethz.ch chiara.martino@chem.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir Prelog Weg 1, Zürich 8093, Switzerland. andrew.demello@chem.ethz.ch chiara.martino@chem.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Statzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir Prelog Weg 1, Zürich 8093, Switzerland. andrew.demello@chem.ethz.ch chiara.martino@chem.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vigolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir Prelog Weg 1, Zürich 8093, Switzerland. andrew.demello@chem.ethz.ch chiara.martino@chem.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: deMello
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020723:Glucuronic Acid