Fabrication of macroporous monodisperse hydrogel microspheres

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11046828-B2
Application number	US-201615568267-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2016
Priority date	Apr 21, 2015
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

A macroporous polymeric hydrogel microsphere that contains poly(ethylene glycol), chitosan, and water. The hydrogel microsphere, having a diameter of 50-250 μm and a mesh size of 5-100 nm, is capable of transporting biomolecules conjugated to it. Also disclosed is a method of fabricating the microsphere based on a micromolding technique utilizing surface tension-induced droplet formation followed by photo-induced polymerization.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A polymeric hydrogel microsphere, comprising a core, a shell, wherein the core comprises crosslinked-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), chitosan, and water; wherein the microsphere has a diameter of 50-250 μm and a mesh size of 5-100 nm; the core has a diameter of 150-190 μm; the shell has a thickness of 10-30 μm; and the core is surrounded by the shell.

2. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the microsphere has a volumetric swelling ratio of 2-20 and a water content of 40-95% v/v.

3. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 2 , wherein the microsphere has a diameter of 100-235 μm and a water content of 50-90% v/v.

4. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 3 , wherein the microsphere has a diameter of 200-220 μm and a water content of 65-80% v/v.

5. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the microsphere has a diameter of 200-220 μm and a water content of 65-80% v/v.

6. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the chitosan has an average molar mass of 4,500-5,500 Da.

7. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 6 , wherein the chitosan comprises primary amines each having a pKa value of 6.0-6.9.

8. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 6 , wherein the microsphere has an apparent chitosan incorporation ratio of 0.1-1.0.

9. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 8 , wherein the microsphere has a diameter of 200-220 μm and a water content of 65-80% v/v.

10. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 1 , wherein the microsphere has a diameter of 200-220 μm, a water content of 75-90% v/v, and an apparent chitosan incorporation ratio of 0.1-0.5.

11. The polymeric hydrogel microsphere of claim 10 , wherein the microsphere has 3×10 −12 -6×10 −11 moles of primary amine groups.

Assignees

• Tufts College

Inventors

• Yi Hyunmin
• Jung Sukwon

Classifications

• C08J3/075 Primary

  Macromolecular gels · CPC title

• A61K9/1652

  Polysaccharides, e.g. alginate, cellulose derivatives; Cyclodextrin (homeopathic globules A61K9/1623) · CPC title

• C08L5/08

  Chitin; Chondroitin sulfate; Hyaluronic acid; Derivatives thereof · CPC title

• B29C35/0805

  using electromagnetic radiation · CPC title

• C08J2405/08

  Chitin; Chondroitin sulfate; Hyaluronic acid; Derivatives thereof · CPC title