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Novel synthesis of PVA/GA hydrogel microspheres based on microfluidic technology

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Abstract

The hydrogel microspheres of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/ glutaraldehyde (GA) used as embolic agent can be applied in the embolization therapy. The mechanical properties and size precision of the hydrogel microspheres have a strong influence on its clinical application. In this work, the microfluidic technology was employed in the preparation of size-controlled PVA/GA hydrogel microspheres, and a novel in-situ gelation system was proposed. The influences of cross-linker (GA) content and the total content of PVA and GA in the dispersed phase, and catalyst content in the continuous phase on the compressive strength and deformation of PVA/GA gel microspheres were investigated in detail. Also, the kinetic behaviours of the formation of PVA/GA hydrogel microspheres in the microfluidic system were studied, and the results indicated that the gelation processes based on microfluidics accord to first-order reaction.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant numbers 2017YFE0300504) and the National Nature Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 21978279). Also, the authors thank the Key Research and Development Projects in Anhui Province of the People’s Republic of China (No. 201904a05020048) for financial support in the research.

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  1. Department of Engineering and Applied Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Huang-Shan Road, He-Fei, People’s Republic of China

    Dengyu Luo, Lin Guo, Yuan Wang, Pingping Wang & Zhenqi Chang

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Article Highlights

Fabrication of PVA/GA hydrogel microspheres by a novel in-situ gelation reaction in microfluidics.

Precise size control of embolic microspheres with a very narrow size distribution.

PVA/GA hydrogel formation kinetics of a first order reaction in microfluidic preparation.

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Luo, D., Guo, L., Wang, Y. et al. Novel synthesis of PVA/GA hydrogel microspheres based on microfluidic technology. J Flow Chem 10, 551–562 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41981-020-00101-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41981-020-00101-w

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