Fabrication of shape controllable Janus alginate/pNIPAAm microgels via microfluidics technique and off-chip ionic cross-linking.

A novel method to fabricate shape controllable alginate/pNIPAAm complex microgels is reported. Monodisperse alginate/pNIPAAm droplets are created via microfluidics and cross-linked in different concentrations of hot glycerol/barium acetate water solutions. By changing the initial droplet size and glycerol concentration of the collecting solution, the resultant microgel shape and surface details can be systematically tuned. High-speed imaging is used to visualize and explain the microgel formation process.