Highly responsive hydrogel scaffolds formed by three-dimensional organization of microgel nanoparticles

Citation:

Cho, E. C. ; Kim, J. - W. ; Fernandez-Nieves, A. ; Weitz, D. A. Highly responsive hydrogel scaffolds formed by three-dimensional organization of microgel nanoparticles. Nano Letters 2008, 8 168-172. Copy at http://www.tinyurl.com/y2xq8mql
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Abstract:

We present a robust and straightforward method for fabricating remarkably responsive hydrogel scaffolds consisting of submicron-sized microgel particles. We demonstrate that the microgel particles assemble either through bridging or depletion interactions to yield a structure that swells or deswells at a macroscopic level in much shorter times as compared to a bulk polymer gel of similar characteristics. This approach offers a new way of fabricating functional hydrogel scaffolds with controllable responsiveness to applied stimuli and excellent loading capability for a wide variety of materials, irrespective of chemistry, size, and shape.

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Last updated on 04/21/2021