Formation of Polyacrylamide and PEGDA Hydrogel Particles in a Microfluidic Flow Focusing Droplet Generator

Abstract

Monodisperse polymeric particles have great potential in biomedical and physical applications. Modern high-throughput droplet microfluidic technologies make it possible to produce monodisperse water-in-oil macroemulsions with desired properties. Polymerization in a macroemulsion transforms it to a suspension of microparticles. These particles may be viewed as containers for targeted delivery of drugs and also as bioink for 3D printing of tissues and organs. Conditions for formation of PEGDA and polyacrylamide particles using a microfluidic flow-focusing emulsion generator have been studied. Manufactured microparticles have been characterized by their geometrical sizes and mechanical properties. In addition, the diffusion escape of small molecules from microparticles has been studied using Rhodamine B fluorescent dye.