Microfluidic Fabrication of Helical Ca-Alginate Hydrogel Fibers

Abstract:

Helix is a sophisticated structure in nature and has many unique functions which makes it possible to store more information and energy, even receive more sensitive signals. Besides, as an effective method for preparing hydrogel fibers, microfluidic spinning has achieved unprecedented development in the past decade. However, hydrogel fiber with helical structure has began to be studied only in recent years. In this paper, the helical hydrogel fibers were prepared by the microfluidic spinning method. The microfluidic chip was assembled by PDMS connector, collection tube, inner and outer channels. Sodium alginate (SA) and calcium chloride were used as the core fluid and sheath fluid, respectively. By designing and adjusting the length of the chip, changing the concentration of SA and the ratio of two flow rates (inner flow rate/outer flow rate), a continuous and uniform helical hydrogel fiber was prepared. The relationships between the diameter of the fiber, the pitch of the helix and the concentration of SA, the ratio of two flow rates were discussed. The results showed that the diameter of the fiber was mainly affected by the core fluid. Within a certain range, as the concentration of SA increased, the diameter of the fiber increased. Besides, the pitch of the helix was greatly affected by the flow rate of sheath fluid. As the velocity of the sheath fluid increased, the pitch of the fiber increased. Such helical fiber could be used in micro sensors when added some conductive materials or crosslinked with some temperature responsive polymers such as N-isopropylacrylamide.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1035)
• Pages: 843-850
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.1035.843
• Online since: June 2021
• Authors: Sha Chen*, Jing Hua Gong, Jing Hong Ma
• Keywords: Helical Hydrogel Fibers, Microfluidic Spinning

References

[1] Wang J, Liu W. Morphology analysis on seashell-shaped structure [J]. Building Structure, 2012, 42(12): 69-73.

[2] Pijnenborg R, Vercruysse L, Hanssens A. The uterine spiral arteries in human pregnancy: Facts and controversies [J]. Placenta, 2006, 27(9-10): 939-958.

DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2005.12.006

[3] Cui Y, Wang W, Dong N, Lou J, Srinivasan D K, Cheng W, Huang X, Liu M, Fang C, Peng J, Chen S, Wu S, Liu Z, Dong L, Zhou Y, Wu Q. Role of corin in trophoblast invasion and uterine spiral artery remodelling in pregnancy [J]. Nature, 2012, 484(7393): 246-U134.

DOI: 10.1038/nature10897

[4] Xu P, Xie R, Liu Y, Luo G, Ding M, Liang Q. Bioinspired microfibers with embedded perfusable helical channels [J]. Advanced Materials, 2017, 29(34).

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201770243

[5] Yang H, Guo M. Bioinspired polymeric helical and superhelical microfibers via microfluidic spinning [J]. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2019, 40(12).

DOI: 10.1002/marc.201900111

[6] Barbot A, Decanini D, Hwang G. Helical microrobot for force sensing inside microfluidic chip [J]. Sensors and Actuators a-Physical, 2017, 266 258-272.

DOI: 10.1016/j.sna.2017.09.004

[7] Yu Y, Fu F, Shang L, Cheng Y, Gu Z, Zhao Y. Bioinspired helical microfibers from microfluidics [J]. Advanced Materials, 2017, 29(18).

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201605765

[8] Zhu A, Guo M. Microfluidic controlled mass-transfer and buckling for easy fabrication of polymeric helical fibers [J] Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2016, 37(5): 426-432.

DOI: 10.1002/marc.201500632

[9] Shin S, Park J-Y, Lee J-Y, Park H, Park Y-D, Lee K-B, Whang C-M, Lee S-H. On the fly, continuous generation of alginate fibers using a microfluidic device [J]. Langmuir, 2007, 23(17): 9104-9108.

DOI: 10.1021/la700818q

[10] Tottori S, Takeuchi S. Formation of liquid rope coils in a coaxial microfluidic device [J]. Rsc Advances, 2015, 5(42): 33691-33695.

DOI: 10.1039/c5ra01037c

[11] Peng L, Liu Y, Gong J, Zhang K, Ma J. Continuous fabrication of multi-stimuli responsive graphene oxide composite hydrogel fibres by microfluidics [J]. Rsc Advances, 2017, 7(31): 19243-19249.

DOI: 10.1039/c7ra01750b

[12] Zhou M L, Gong J H, Ma J H. Continuous fabrication of near-infrared light responsive bilayer hydrogel fibers based on microfluidic spinning [J]. E-Polymers, 2019, 19(1): 215-224.

DOI: 10.1515/epoly-2019-0022

[13] Barnes G, Woodcock R. Liquid rope-coil effect [J]. American Journal of Physics, 1958, 26(4): 205-209.

DOI: 10.1119/1.1996110

[14] Maleki M, Habibi M, Golestanian R, Ribe N M, Bonn D. Liquid rope coiling on a solid surface [J]. Physical Review Letters, 2004, 93(21).

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.93.214502

[15] Ribe N M. Coiling of viscous jets [J]. Proceedings of the Royal Society a-Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2004, 460(2051): 3223-3239.

DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2004.1353

[16] Ribe N M, Habibi M, Bonn D. Stability of liquid rope coiling [J]. Physics of Fluids, 2006, 18(8): 12.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2336803