Controlled generation of spiky microparticles by ionic cross-linking within an aqueous two-phase system

Microparticles are used in a variety of different fields, such as drug delivery. Recently, non-spherical microparticle generation has become desirable. The high surface-to-volume ratio of non-spherical microparticles allows for enhanced targeting, and attachment to cells and tissue. Current non-sphe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2019-04, Vol.15 (16), p.331-336
Main Authors: Abbasi, Niki, Navi, Maryam, Nunes, Janine K, Tsai, Scott S. H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alginates
Alginic acid
Binary systems
Biocompatibility
Biomaterials
Biomedical materials
Calcium
Calcium alginate
Calcium chloride
Chemical synthesis
Crosslinking
Dextran
Drug delivery
Drug delivery systems
Information systems
Microparticles
Organic chemistry
Pollen
Polyethylene glycol
Post-production processing
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Summary:Microparticles are used in a variety of different fields, such as drug delivery. Recently, non-spherical microparticle generation has become desirable. The high surface-to-volume ratio of non-spherical microparticles allows for enhanced targeting, and attachment to cells and tissue. Current non-spherical microparticle generation techniques require complicated setup, and utilizing natural micrograins, such as pollen grains, as non-spherical delivery vehicles, requires extensive post-processing. Here, we describe a unique and facile chemical synthesis approach, for controlled generation of pollen-like microparticles, based on ionic cross-linking of alginate and calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ), within an all-biocompatible aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) of dextran (DEX) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Our technique controls the length of spikes that emerge on the surface of these microparticles. We anticipate that these pollen-like spiky microparticles may be used as drug delivery vehicles, and this new chemical synthesis approach may be used for generating other biomaterials. We describe a unique approach for controlled generation of spiky microparticles, based on ionic cross-linking within an aqueous two-phase system.
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/c8sm02315h