Fabrication of Hydrogel Fiber with Enhanced Mechanical Property and Biocompatibility Evaluation

Abstract

Aiming at poor mechanical property and shaping ability of natural hydrogel fiber, combining micro-fluidics with photo-crosslinking, an alginate/GelMA hybrid hydrogel with enhanced mechanical properties in high-throughput manner is fabricated. The impacts of the micro-fluidic nozzle size and the hydrogel monomer concentration on the shaping capability, mechanical property and structural feature of hydrogel are investigated. The fabricated hydrogel fiber is smooth with uniform distribution in diameter (390±50 μm) to show the controllability in hydrogel fabrication. SEM results indicate that the hydrogel is endowed with denser lamella microstructure along with increasing concentrations of alginate and GelMA monomer, and the elastic modulus of hydrogel rises accordingly. The biocompatibility of hydrogel fiber is validated by the cell experiments, and the cell viability maintains 80% after 5 days culture. In the animal experiment, ambient subcutaneous tissue remains normal after one week hydrogel implanting, and the surrounding inflammation relieves and hydrogel degrades to some extent in the third week after implanting. This research result of alginate/GelMa hydrogel fiber with enhanced mechanical property is expected to realize high-throughput establishment of three-dimensional muscle micro-tissue model.