Soft temperature-responsive microgels of complex shape in stop-flow lithography

Abstract

Using a NIPAm monomer with a crosslinker in stop-flow lithography enables the fabrication of soft, temperature-responsive microgels of complex shape.

Controlling Structure with Injectable Biomaterials to Better Mimic Tissue Heterogeneity and Anisotropy

“…Reproduced with permission. [148,149] Copyright 2020, 2007, Royal Society of Chemistry.…”

“…[149] Recently, the technique was adjusted and used to produce thermoresponsive, complex shaped microgels with the ability to shrink and swell above and below the volume phase transition temperature, respectively (Figure 5J). [148] Electrospinning is an alternative to microfluidics for a highthroughput fabrication of rod-shaped elements. In electrospinning, a high electric field is employed to create axial tensile forces in a charged polymer jet, resulting in polymer fibers of desired diameter.…”

Microfluidics for Microswimmers: Engineering Novel Swimmers and Constructing Swimming Lanes on the Microscale, a Tutorial Review

“…We have reviewed the tremendous potential of the combination of microfluidics and microswimmers grouped into three main areas: The first one are synthetic possibilities opened up by microfluidics from which especially soft robots will benefit further, in particular hydrogel based microswimmers and related materials will benefit from advanced fabrication techniques. [69] Currently, scale up of microswimmers is difficult due to the more conventional fabrication process including deposition techniques. Using microfluidics, the production of larger batches simply requires longer times, given that all (active) compounds are stable and adequate conditions selected.…”

“…[57] Copyright 2020, American Chemical Society. such as stop flow lithography, [69] however, to the best of our knowledge none of these artificial, flexible flagella have been produced in a microfluidic setup or studied in a microfluidic device. A promising candidate to evaluate in microfluidics is the magnetically actuated ciliary microswimmer produced by Kim et al.…”

Chips for Biomaterials and Biomaterials for Chips: Recent Advances at the Interface between Microfabrication and Biomaterials Research

“…In addition, flow photolithography combines microfluidics with lithography to produce large numbers of anisotropic microobjects, including "Janus particles" consisting of two different materials and particles that exhibit temperature-responsive behavior. [123][124][125][126] A recent review by Xue et al describes the importance of shape in the interaction of these non-spherical particles with biological systems. [127] Finally, direct photolithography methods such as two-photon polymerization have been used to produce 3D biomaterial structures inside a microfluidic chip as a means to study the combined effects of surface-bound (topography) and soluble (chemical gradient) cues on cell behavior.…”