Stop-Flow Lithography for the Continuous Production of Degradable Hydrogel Achiral Crescent Microswimmers

Junfeng Xiong; Xiaoxia Song; Yuhang Cai; Jiahe Liu; Yangyuan Li; Yaqiang Ji; Liang Guo; U Kei Cheang

doi:10.3390/mi13050798

Stop-Flow Lithography for the Continuous Production of Degradable Hydrogel Achiral Crescent Microswimmers

Junfeng Xiong, Xiaoxia Song, Yuhang Cai, Jiahe Liu, Yangyuan Li, Yaqiang Ji, Liang Guo, U Kei Cheang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

49 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

The small size of robotic microswimmers makes them suitable for performing biomedical tasks in tiny, enclosed spaces. Considering the effects of potentially long-term retention of microswimmers in biological tissues and the environment, the degradability of microswimmers has become one of the pressing issues in this field. While degradable hydrogel was successfully used to prepare microswimmers in previous reports, most hydrogel microswimmers could only be fabricated using two-photon polymerization (TPP) due to their 3D structures, resulting in costly robotic microswimmers solution. This limits the potential of hydrogel microswimmers to be used in applications where a large number of microswimmers are needed. Here, we proposed a new type of preparation method for degradable hydrogel achiral crescent microswimmers using a custom-built stop-flow lithography (SFL) setup. The degradability of the hydrogel crescent microswimmers was quantitatively analyzed, and the degradation rate in sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) of different concentrations was investigated. Cytotoxicity assays showed the hydrogel crescent microswimmers had good biocompatibility. The hydrogel crescent microswimmers were magnetically actuated using a 3D Helmholtz coil system and were able to obtain a swimming efficiency on par with previously reported microswimmers. The results herein demonstrated the potential for the degradable hydrogel achiral microswimmers to become a candidate for microscale applications.

Original language	English
Article number	798
Journal	Micromachines
Volume	13
Issue number	5
Online published	20 May 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13050798
Publication status	Published - May 2022
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 51850410516), the Department of Education of Guangdong (2021ZDZX2037), Science and Technology Innovation Commit-tee Foundation of Shenzhen (20200925155648005, RCYX20210609103644015, and ZDSYS20200811143601004), and Shenzhen municipal government (Peacock Plan, 20181119590C) awarded to U Kei Cheang. This work was also funded by the University Consistent Support Program of Shenzhen Natural Science Foundation (20200925155828001), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (KQTD20170810110250357), and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2019A1515010745) awarded to Liang Guo. This work was also supported by the “Climbing Program” Special Funds (pdjh2021c0048) awarded to Junfeng Xiong. Acknowledgments: We would like to thank Pei Zhang and Ji Liu for their comments and discus-sion. We also would like to acknowledge the technical support from the SUSTech Core Research Facilities (SCRF). Funding: This work was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 51850410516), the Department of Education of Guangdong (2021ZDZX2037), Science and Technology Innovation Committee Foundation of Shenzhen (20200925155648005, RCYX20210609103644015, and ZDSYS20200811143601004), and Shenzhen municipal government (Peacock Plan, 20181119590C) awarded to U Kei Cheang. This work was also funded by the University Consistent Support Program of Shenzhen Natural Science Foundation (20200925155828001), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (KQTD20170810110250357), and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2019A1515010745) awarded to Liang Guo. This work was also supported by the “Climbing Program” Special Funds (pdjh2021c0048) awarded to Junfeng Xiong.

Research Keywords

crescent
degradable hydrogel microswimmers
magnetic actuation
stop-flow lithography

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Access Output

10.3390/mi13050798

114362956.pdfFinal Published version, 2.48 MBLicence: CC BY

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

Right click to copy link

Cite this

@article{14aff37a46f242dc860b9652e76c09c9,

title = "Stop-Flow Lithography for the Continuous Production of Degradable Hydrogel Achiral Crescent Microswimmers",

abstract = "The small size of robotic microswimmers makes them suitable for performing biomedical tasks in tiny, enclosed spaces. Considering the effects of potentially long-term retention of microswimmers in biological tissues and the environment, the degradability of microswimmers has become one of the pressing issues in this field. While degradable hydrogel was successfully used to prepare microswimmers in previous reports, most hydrogel microswimmers could only be fabricated using two-photon polymerization (TPP) due to their 3D structures, resulting in costly robotic microswimmers solution. This limits the potential of hydrogel microswimmers to be used in applications where a large number of microswimmers are needed. Here, we proposed a new type of preparation method for degradable hydrogel achiral crescent microswimmers using a custom-built stop-flow lithography (SFL) setup. The degradability of the hydrogel crescent microswimmers was quantitatively analyzed, and the degradation rate in sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) of different concentrations was investigated. Cytotoxicity assays showed the hydrogel crescent microswimmers had good biocompatibility. The hydrogel crescent microswimmers were magnetically actuated using a 3D Helmholtz coil system and were able to obtain a swimming efficiency on par with previously reported microswimmers. The results herein demonstrated the potential for the degradable hydrogel achiral microswimmers to become a candidate for microscale applications.",

keywords = "crescent, degradable hydrogel microswimmers, magnetic actuation, stop-flow lithography",

author = "Junfeng Xiong and Xiaoxia Song and Yuhang Cai and Jiahe Liu and Yangyuan Li and Yaqiang Ji and Liang Guo and Cheang, {U Kei}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

year = "2022",

month = may,

doi = "10.3390/mi13050798",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

journal = "Micromachines",

issn = "2072-666X",

publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Stop-Flow Lithography for the Continuous Production of Degradable Hydrogel Achiral Crescent Microswimmers

AU - Xiong, Junfeng

AU - Song, Xiaoxia

AU - Cai, Yuhang

AU - Liu, Jiahe

AU - Li, Yangyuan

AU - Ji, Yaqiang

AU - Guo, Liang

AU - Cheang, U Kei

PY - 2022/5

Y1 - 2022/5

N2 - The small size of robotic microswimmers makes them suitable for performing biomedical tasks in tiny, enclosed spaces. Considering the effects of potentially long-term retention of microswimmers in biological tissues and the environment, the degradability of microswimmers has become one of the pressing issues in this field. While degradable hydrogel was successfully used to prepare microswimmers in previous reports, most hydrogel microswimmers could only be fabricated using two-photon polymerization (TPP) due to their 3D structures, resulting in costly robotic microswimmers solution. This limits the potential of hydrogel microswimmers to be used in applications where a large number of microswimmers are needed. Here, we proposed a new type of preparation method for degradable hydrogel achiral crescent microswimmers using a custom-built stop-flow lithography (SFL) setup. The degradability of the hydrogel crescent microswimmers was quantitatively analyzed, and the degradation rate in sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) of different concentrations was investigated. Cytotoxicity assays showed the hydrogel crescent microswimmers had good biocompatibility. The hydrogel crescent microswimmers were magnetically actuated using a 3D Helmholtz coil system and were able to obtain a swimming efficiency on par with previously reported microswimmers. The results herein demonstrated the potential for the degradable hydrogel achiral microswimmers to become a candidate for microscale applications.

AB - The small size of robotic microswimmers makes them suitable for performing biomedical tasks in tiny, enclosed spaces. Considering the effects of potentially long-term retention of microswimmers in biological tissues and the environment, the degradability of microswimmers has become one of the pressing issues in this field. While degradable hydrogel was successfully used to prepare microswimmers in previous reports, most hydrogel microswimmers could only be fabricated using two-photon polymerization (TPP) due to their 3D structures, resulting in costly robotic microswimmers solution. This limits the potential of hydrogel microswimmers to be used in applications where a large number of microswimmers are needed. Here, we proposed a new type of preparation method for degradable hydrogel achiral crescent microswimmers using a custom-built stop-flow lithography (SFL) setup. The degradability of the hydrogel crescent microswimmers was quantitatively analyzed, and the degradation rate in sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) of different concentrations was investigated. Cytotoxicity assays showed the hydrogel crescent microswimmers had good biocompatibility. The hydrogel crescent microswimmers were magnetically actuated using a 3D Helmholtz coil system and were able to obtain a swimming efficiency on par with previously reported microswimmers. The results herein demonstrated the potential for the degradable hydrogel achiral microswimmers to become a candidate for microscale applications.

KW - crescent

KW - degradable hydrogel microswimmers

KW - magnetic actuation

KW - stop-flow lithography

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130867754&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85130867754&origin=recordpage

U2 - 10.3390/mi13050798

DO - 10.3390/mi13050798

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

C2 - 35630266

AN - SCOPUS:85130867754

SN - 2072-666X

VL - 13

JO - Micromachines

JF - Micromachines

IS - 5

M1 - 798

ER -

Stop-Flow Lithography for the Continuous Production of Degradable Hydrogel Achiral Crescent Microswimmers

Abstract

Funding

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

Cite this