Polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) represents a promising biocompatible polymer commonly used as a microcarrier for controlled drug release and cell encapsulation in tissue engineering. The present work describes the production of monodisperse PEGDA microparticles in a novel reusable Lego-inspired hybrid microfluidic device composed of coaxial borosilicate glass capillaries and CNC-milled polymeric holders that can be dismantled and reassembled to allow easy cleaning and multiple usage. The device can be assembled using cylindrical inner capillary and cylindrical outer capillary to achieve truly axisymmetric geometry, as compared to quasi-axisymmetric geometry in traditional manually made glass capillary devices consisted of cylindrical inner capillary and square outer capillary. Template droplets composed of the mixture of photocurable PEGDA prepolymer and a photo-initiator were generated by 3D counter-current flow focusing and subsequently solidified by photo-polymerisation. The presented data demonstrate that the novel Lego<sup>R</sup> device allows for a precise control of droplet size with a coefficient of variation of less than 3%. The optical microscopy images indicated that polymerization occurs from the centre of the droplets to the edge as the UV exposure time increases, rather than at the droplet surface. The swelling properties of the particles were adjusted by adding different nanofillers to the dispersed phase prior to droplet generation. It was possible to adjust particle porosity by adding different amounts of water to the dispersed phase.

Fabrication and optimisation of polyethylene glycol diacrylate microparticles using lego<sup>R</sup> inspired microfluidic device

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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Fabrication and optimisation of polyethylene glycol diacrylate microparticles using legoR inspired microfluidic device

Fabrication and optimisation of polyethylene glycol diacrylate microparticles using lego^R inspired microfluidic device