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An Additive Manufacturing Technique for the Facile and Rapid Fabrication of Hydrogel-based Micromachines with Magnetically Responsive Components
Published on: July 18, 2018
Magnetic manipulation of liquid-wrapped hydrogels
Utsab Banerjee1, Sirshendu Misra1, Sushanta K Mitra1
1Micro & Nano-scale Transport Laboratory, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada. skmitra@uwaterloo.ca.
Abstract:
This study explores the encapsulation of magnetic and non-magnetic hydrogels within a liquid medium using the liquid-liquid encapsulation technique. The encapsulation process involves the suspension of hydrogels in laser oil, followed by the generation of compound core droplets, which are then wrapped by an interfacial layer of canola oil floating on a water bath. This method produces magneto-responsive compound encapsulated cargos with potential applications in diverse fields such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, and soft robotics. The magnetic properties of these encapsulated cargos are exploited for magnet-assisted release and underwater manipulation, demonstrating enhanced stability, controlled release, and adaptability. This research opens new avenues for the application of magnetic hydrogels in dynamic and responsive systems.

