On-the-fly exchangeable microfluidic nozzles for facile production of various monodisperse micromaterials

Abstract

Exchangeable microfluidic nozzles enable the facile production of a wide variety of micromaterials using a single cleanroom-free manufactured microfluidic device.

Steering Stem Cell Fate within 3D Living Composite Tissues Using Stimuli‐Responsive Cell‐Adhesive Micromaterials

“…To generate ≈200 µm microgels, a microfluidic droplet generator with exchangeable nozzle was used, as previously described. [ 43 ] Hydrogel precursor solutions were identical to the ones 20 µm microgels production protocol, and emulsified in hexadecane with 1% (v/v) Span‐80 at a 1:6 (hydrogel:oil) flow ratio (10 µL min −1 hydrogel, 60 µL min −1 oil). To induce crosslinking, the microemulsion was flown through a semipermeable silicone tubing that was submerged in a bath of 300 g L −1 H 2 O 2 , collected in an oil phase that consisted of H 2 O 2 ‐laden crosslinker emulsion prepared as previously described, [ 44 ] and incubated for 3 h on a rollers mixer to ensure complete crosslinking of the microgels.…”

Mass production of lumenogenic human embryoid bodies and functional cardiospheres using in-air-generated microcapsules

“…The addition of a third microjet enables the Marangoni-driven encapsulation of the droplets to occur twice, which enabled simultaneous inside-out and outside-in crosslinking of the alginate shell (i.e., middle phase) by calcium ions in the crosslinker liquids (i.e., inner and outer phases). Importantly, this allows for the jet-based production of thin-shelled microcapsules at a rate that is more than two orders of magnitude faster than competing fabrication techniques (e.g., conventional microfluidics 54 ) (Fig. 1b, c ).…”

The Art of Building Living Tissues: Exploring the Frontiers of Biofabrication with 3D Bioprinting

“…Recently, the amalgamation of extrusion bioprinting with microfluidics-based bioprinting technology allowed control, switching, and mixing of bionks/biomaterials within microchannels in a precise manner. , Microfluidic mixing allows efficient control over the printed object’s morphology, direction, and dimension, thus resulting in better stability and resolution of the 3D bioprinted product. Additionally, implementing microfluidic channels for extrusion reduces material wastage, manufacturing cost, and printing and analysis time and allows biologically safe disposal of waste biomaterials, , thus allowing mixing, on-the-fly cross-linking, − coaxial filament formation, tunable multilayer hollow fiber formation, , and cell-laden microsphere generation for the bioprinting of biological constructs. Constantini et al fabricated a microfluidic chip head coupled to a coaxial syringe for the biofabrication of muscle precursor cells, i.e., C3Cl2 cells, encapsulated in alginate hydrogel fibers, and PEG/Fibrinogen, a photocurable semisynthetic biopolymer, was used as a bioink .…”

“…However, this comes with the loss of temporal advantage, i.e., printing time increases. However, simultaneous printing with multiple extruder units (micromixers and gradient formation devices) and automated valves could allow the formation of variable hollow fibers and the deposition of variable biomaterials to increase the temporal resolution of bioprinting. ,, Alternatively, computed axial lithography could be employed in the biofabrication photo-cross-linking bioink, which is fast and accurate …”

“…However, simultaneous printing with multiple extruder units (micromixers and gradient formation devices) and automated valves could allow the formation of variable hollow fibers and the deposition of variable biomaterials to increase the temporal resolution of bioprinting. 58,61,121 Alternatively, computed axial lithography could be employed in the biofabrication photocross-linking bioink, which is fast and accurate. 206 The bioprinting of time-scale-dependent flexible structures and vascular networks with irregular concave/convex geometry is a critical limitation in the success of tissue engineering.…”