A microfluidic method generating monodispersed microparticles with controllable sizes and mechanical properties

Cheng Zhang (1) , Romain A Grossier (1) , Leda Lacaria (2) , Felix Rico (3, 2) , Nadine A Candoni (1) , Stéphane A Veesler (1)

1 CINaM - Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille
2 LAI - Adhésion et Inflammation
3 Department of Physiology and Biophysics

Seeking to produce microparticles that mimic red blood cells (RBCs), we present a microfluidic method of generating monodispersed hydrogel microparticles of Na-/Ca-alginate with controllable sizes (micrometer range) and mechanical properties. No surfactant is used. Transformation from Na-alginate to Ca-alginate microparticles is realized via ex situ gelation, which proves essential to obtaining desired microparticle properties, such as insolubility in water and RBC-like mechanical properties. For both Na-alginate and Ca-alginate microparticles, a smooth surface and a porous inner structure are observed under a scanning electron microscope. A platform of microgrippers is successfully developed to manipulate the microparticles. The Young’s modulus measured using an atomic force microscope on the surface of Ca-alginate microparticles is of the same order as that of RBCs.

Mots clés: Microfluidic; Microparticle; Hydrogel; Alginate; Microdroplet

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Matériaux

Cheng Zhang, Romain A Grossier, Leda Lacaria, Felix Rico, Nadine A Candoni, et al.. A microfluidic method generating monodispersed microparticles with controllable sizes and mechanical properties. Chemical Engineering Science, 2020, 211, pp.115322. ⟨10.1016/j.ces.2019.115322⟩. ⟨hal-02179400v3⟩