title: In-situ photopolymerization of monodisperse and discoid oxidized methacrylated alginate microgels in a microfluidic channel.
abstract: We present a simple microfluidic technique to in-situ photopolymerize (by 365 nm ultraviolet) monodisperse oxidized methacrylated alginate (OMA) microgels using a photoinitiator (VA-086). By this technique, we generated monodisperse spherical OMA beads and discoid non-spherical beads with better shape consistency than ionic crosslinking methods do. We found that a high monomer concentration (8 w/v %), a high photoinitiator concentration (1.5 w/v %), and absence of oxygen are critical factors to cure OMA microgels. This photopolymerizing method is an alternative to current methods to form alginate microgels and is a simpler approach to generate non-spherical alginate microgels.
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University , Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA.
authors: Shuo
authors: S
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
authors: Oju
authors: O
authors: Jeon
authors: Peter G
authors: PG
authors: Shankles
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan Technological University , Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA.
authors: Yuan
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: Eben
authors: E
authors: Alsberg
authors: Scott T
authors: ST
authors: Retterer
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan Technological University , Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA.
authors: Bruce P
authors: 0000-0002-6529-0032
authors: BP
authors: Lee
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University , Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA.
authors: Chang Kyoung
authors: CK
authors: Choi