Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Assembled Microspheres as Structural Color Barcodes from Revolving Microfluidics

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Optical barcodes are crucial for security and biomedical applications.
• Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) forms biocompatible cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) with structure color.
• High viscosity of HPC CLCs hinders material processing and application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an efficient method for producing HPC-based CLC barcode particles.
• To overcome processing limitations associated with high-viscosity HPC CLCs.
• To explore the potential of these particles in bioanalysis and biodiagnostics.

Main Methods:

• A high-speed revolving microfluidic platform was used to emulsify methacrylate functionalized HPC (HPC-MA) solution.
• HPC-MA molecules self-assembled into CLCs within droplets via water evaporation.
• Resultant CLC droplets were cross-linked to form structural color barcode particles.

Main Results:

• Well-defined and adjustable encoding information was achieved in HPC-MA CLC barcoded particles.
• The particles maintained excellent biocompatibility.
• Continuous production of uniform HPC-MA CLC barcode particles with tunable size was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic technique provides an efficient route for producing novel HPC-MA CLC barcode particles.
• These biocompatible barcode particles show significant promise for 3D cell culture and multiplex immunoassays.
• The study highlights the potential of these particles in diverse bioanalytical and biodiagnostic applications.