Prof. Zheng Meiling and her team from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have made significant advancements in the field of hydrogel materials. Hydrogels are known for their exceptional biocompatibility, and they are extensively used in various applications such as artificial blood vessels, biomaterial microdevices, tissue adhesives, and tissue engineering.
The researchers focused on addressing the challenge of achieving higher precision in micro- and nanofabrication of biomaterials. To tackle this, they developed a new biocompatible hydrogel photoresist using a combination of hyaluronic acid vinyl ester (HAVE) as the monomer, a cyclopentanone-based material as the initiator, and DL-Dithiothreitol as the thiol-ene click chemical cross-linker.
Their innovative approach involved using a technique called two-photon polymerization (TPP) on the HAVE photoresist, which resulted in an impressive resolution of 22 nm. The team extensively studied the TPP process of the hydrogel photoresist and optimized the formulation. They also investigated the biocompatibility of 3D hydrogel cell scaffolds and thoroughly examined the impact of the focus position on the laser threshold.
As a result of their research, the team successfully fabricated biocompatible 3D hydrogel scaffold structures. The study’s findings hold great promise for the creation of complex 3D hydrogel structures with biocompatible properties. This advancement opens up possibilities for various applications, including microenvironment regulation, tissue engineering, biomedicine, and biomimetic science.
On May 23, their work was published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, showcasing the significant progress they have made in the field of hydrogel materials and micro- and nanofabrication techniques.
Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences