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Pharmacology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning

DOI: 10.3791/54502-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Fabricate degradable thermoresponsive hydrogels across bulk, micro, and nanoscales
  • ✓ Apply hydrazone cross-linking chemistry to polymer systems (POEGMA, PNIPAM)
  • ✓ Implement microfluidics, self-assembly, and electrospinning fabrication techniques
  • ✓ Characterize multi-scale gel structures and thermal responsiveness properties
Protocol

Protocols are described for the fabrication of degradable thermoresponsive hydrogels based on hydrazone cross-linking of polymeric oligomers on the bulk scale, microscale, and nanoscale, the latter for preparation of both gel nanoparticles and nanofibers.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~3–5 days (depending on synthesis scale and characterization depth)

Steps

1
Synthesize hydrazone-crosslinked bulk POEGMA or PNIPAM hydrogels

Perform reactive extrusion to prepare macroscopic hydrogels using hydrazone cross-linking of polymeric oligomers. Monitor cross-linking kinetics and gelation endpoints.

▶ 00:49
2
Generate hydrazone-crosslinked PNIPAM gel microparticles microfluidically

Use reactive microfluidics to fabricate uniform microscale gel particles via controlled mixing and cross-linking of PNIPAM oligomers in a microfluidic device.

▶ 02:41
3
Prepare nanogels via thermally-driven reactive self-assembly

Drive hydrazone cross-linking and nanogel formation through controlled temperature cycling of PNIPAM solutions to trigger self-assembly into nanoparticles.

▶ 06:18
4
Fabricate hydrazone-crosslinked POEGMA nanofibers electrospinning

Produce nanoscale fibrous structures by electrospinning POEGMA solutions with simultaneous hydrazone cross-linking to generate reactive nanofibers.

▶ 07:34
5
Characterize bulk, microscale, and nanoscale gel structures

Analyze morphology, thermal responsiveness, and degradation kinetics of fabricated hydrogels across all size scales using appropriate analytical methods.

▶ 09:28
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