Thompson Susan, Stukel Jessica, AlNiemi Abrar, Willits Rebecca Kuntz
Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Akron.
J Vis Exp. 2013 Dec 23(82):e51002. doi: 10.3791/51002.
This work describes the formation of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) microgels via a photopolymerized precipitation reaction. Precipitation reactions offer several advantages over traditional microsphere fabrication techniques. Contrary to emulsion, suspension, and dispersion techniques, microgels formed by precipitation are of uniform shape and size, i.e. low polydispersity index, without the use of organic solvents or stabilizers. The mild conditions of the precipitation reaction, customizable properties of the microgels, and low viscosity for injections make them applicable for in vivo purposes. Unlike other fabrication techniques, microgel characteristics can be modified by changing the starting polymer molecular weight. Increasing the starting PEG molecular weight increased microgel diameter and swelling ratio. Further modifications are suggested such as encapsulating molecules during microgel crosslinking. Simple adaptations to the PEG microgel building blocks are explored for future applications of microgels as drug delivery vehicles and tissue engineering scaffolds.
这项工作描述了通过光聚合沉淀反应形成聚乙二醇（PEG）微凝胶的过程。与传统的微球制造技术相比，沉淀反应具有几个优点。与乳液、悬浮和分散技术不同，通过沉淀形成的微凝胶形状和尺寸均匀，即多分散指数低，无需使用有机溶剂或稳定剂。沉淀反应的温和条件、微凝胶可定制的性质以及注射时的低粘度使其适用于体内应用。与其他制造技术不同，微凝胶的特性可以通过改变起始聚合物分子量来改变。增加起始PEG分子量会增加微凝胶直径和溶胀率。还建议进行进一步的改进，例如在微凝胶交联过程中封装分子。探索了对PEG微凝胶构建块的简单调整，以用于微凝胶作为药物递送载体和组织工程支架的未来应用。
