Presentation Title: Designing Microcapsules for Controlled Release and Implantable Biosensors
Dr. Weixia Zhang presented this talk in the webinar on Materials Science, Engineering and Technology organized by Vebleo
Author: Weixia Zhang1, Liangliang Qu1, Xie Xi2, Alireza Abbaspourrad3, David A. Weitz1
Affiliation:
1John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
2Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
3Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
Biography
Dr. Weixia Zhang obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from Tsinghua University in Beijing and his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Purdue University.
After that, Dr. Weixia Zhang joined the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, where Dr. Weixia Zhang is currently a Research Associate.
Dr. Weixia Zhang ‘s research interests span a wide range of topics in Chemistry, Materials Sciences and Engineering, including organic synthesis, self-assembly, polymer chemistry, photonic crystals, microfluidics, and synthesis of functional materials for biomedical and energy applications.
Dr. Weixia Zhang has published 34 refereed scientific articles and 2 book chapters with total citations of over 1500. He also serves as an editorial board member and a guest editor of journals, and a reviewer of more than 20 top journals in Chemistry and Materials Science.
Abstract
A microcapsule is a core-shell structured material containing a spherical core surrounded by a solid shell. This unique structure makes microcapsules ideal carriers to encapsulate various cargoes, from small molecules to nanomaterials and biological species such as cells. The solid shell can be a barrier to isolate these cargoes from harsh environments and protect them for storage and handling.
Therefore, microcapsules have been widely used in numerous areas, such as the pharmaceutical, agricultural, medical, cosmetics, and food industries. In this talk, I will briefly introduce how to fabricate microcapsules using droplet microfluidic technology.
This technology provides exquisite flow control to generate different types of droplets that can be used as templates to create new materials. Then I focus on water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion droplets and use them to fabricate microcapsules with controllable structures.
After that, I will give two examples of microcapsules’ applications. First, I will introduce a microcapsule based controlled release system. Through the rational design of the microcapsule shell structure, I demonstrate using water as a biocompatible and straightforward trigger to release the encapsulated biomolecules without impairing their biological activities. At last, I will introduce developing a microcapsule-based implantable sensing platform.
These microcapsules can encapsulate and trap colloidal nanosensors within the core while maintaining their sensing capability and allowing free diffusion of smaller biomolecules. Furthermore, these microcapsules can be immobilized into biocompatible hydrogels as implantable devices for biomolecular sensing.
Graphical Abstract
This talk was delivered in the webinar organized by Vebleo