| 초록 |
The membrane of microcapsules can be designed to be selectively permeable by creating regular pores. Such semipermeable microcapsules have numerous applications including controlled release of encapsulants and immuno-isolation of cells. However, only few methods are developed, most of which provide limited control over pore size and poor mechanical stability. In this work, we report a microfluidic approach to fabricate semipermeable microcapsules by employing polymerization-induced phase separation. Water-in-oil-in-water type double-emulsion drops are generated in a microfluidic device to have ultra-thin middle layer composed of photocurable resin and porogen. The double-emulsions are then subjected to UV illumination to photo-polymerize the monomers in the middle layer. This results in phase separation between the polymerized resin and porogen. Subsequent removal of the porogen leaves behind regular pores on polymer capsule membrane, thereby providing size-selective permeability. |
