본 연구는 미세유체기술을 기반으로 매우 간단하고 효율적인 단분산성 하이드로젤 마이크로 입자 제조 방법을 제안하였다. 구체적으로, 유리모세관 미세유체장치 내에서 형성된 이중에멀젼은 자외선기반 자유라디칼 중합에 의해 빠르게 고형화가 이루어진다. 수용액에 분산됨과 동시에 계면활성제의 부족으로 인해 얇은 오일쉘은 자발적으로 분리되어, 단분산성 하이드로젤 입자를 형성하였다(C.V.=1%). 본 연구의 결과는 water-in-oil (w/o) 단일에멀젼 기반의 제조 방법과 달리 오일 부피를 최소한으로 사용하여 크기 및 조성 제어가 가능한 단분산성 하이드로젤 입자의 제조가 달성될 수 있음을 보여준다. 마지막으로, 상도표를 기반으로 미세유체장치 내 유동 패턴에 대한 심층 연구는 상대적인 부피 유속들 간의 중요한 상관관계를 나타내며 하이드로젤 마이크로 입자의 안정적인 제조를 위한 실험적 근거를 제시하였다.

This study reports a microfluidic approach to produce monodisperse hydrogel microparticles in a simple and highly efficient manner. Specifically, we produce double emulsion drops with a thin oil shell surrounding an aqueous prepolymer solution, which is solidified via UV-induced free radical polymerization. When they are dispersed in an aqueous solution, the oil shell is dewetted due to the absence of surfactants, resulting in production of highly uniform hydrogel microparticles (C.V.=1%). Results show that production of monodisperse hydrogel microparticles with controllable size and composition can be achieved with minimal use of oil unlike water-in-oil (w/o) single emulsionbased approach. Furthermore, in-depth study of flow patterns in microfluidic device using a phase diagram exhibits a crucial relationship among relative flow rates while providing windows of readily controllable parameters for reliable manufacturing of hydrogel microparticles.

Hydrogel Microparticle Microfluidics Double emulsion

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