The invention relates to poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) microgels, to the process for preparing same and the uses thereof in various fields of application such as optics, electronics, pharmacy and cosmetics.

These microgels have the advantage of being monodisperse, pH-responsive and temperature-responsive. They can carry magnetic nanoparticles or biologically active molecules. These microgels may also form transparent films, which have novel optical and electromechanical properties.

Provided is a production method for a gel composition including steps (1) to (3) mentioned below: step (1) of mixing at room temperature a partial degradation product of the galactose moiety of galactoxyloglucan and an aqueous solvent to obtain a mixture; step (2) of cooling or freezing the mixture obtained in step (1); and step (3) of gelling the mixture cooled or frozen in step (2) by heating to obtain a gel composition that includes the galactose-partial degradation product.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for forming one or more compartments in a yield-stress fluid, wherein the one or more compartments can be one or more droplets. The yield-stress fluid is selected from polydimethylsiloxane, silicone oil, colloidal particles in water or oil, diblock or triblock copolymers in water or oil, microcellulose, xanthum gum, 0.1 wt % Carbopol and a combination thereof. The present invention is applicable for use in crystallisation, bioassays and chemical microreactors.

Described herein are a polyurethane gel, a process for preparing the same, and applications for the use thereof in medical padding.

The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of gel material processing, and discloses processing equipment and a processing technology of a gel microsphere material. The processing equipment comprises a mixing barrel, wherein a motor is installed at the top of the mixing barrel; a rotating rod is arranged in the mixing barrel; the rotating rod is fixedly connected to the output end of the motor; a fan-shaped impeller is installed at the bottom end of the rotating rod; the bottom of the rotating rod communicates with a gas conveying pipe; a shunting ring is fixedly connected to the inner side wall of the mixing barrel; the bottom of the rotating rod is fixedly connected with the fan-shaped impeller; and the gas conveying pipe is arranged at the bottom of the mixing barrel to inflate a raw material solution in the mixing barrel, when bubbles float in the solution, the solution can be stirred, and then under the cooperation of the fan-shaped impeller at the bottom of the rotating rod, the raw material solution of the gel microsphere material is stirred more quickly and more uniformly in the mixing barrel compared with the raw material solution only stirred by the fan-shaped impeller.

In various aspects, a self-healing polymeric material is provided, as well as methods of making a self-healing material. The self-healing material may include a polymer network defining one or more ligands having a metal ion coordination site. The polymer network may be a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel and the metal ion may be a transition metal, like zinc. The metal ion is distributed in the polymer network and capable of interacting with the at least one metal ion coordination site via a reversible coordination bond. The polymer network is capable of self-healing a mechanical crack or cut in less than or equal to about 30 minutes at ambient conditions and in certain variations, in as little as 5-10 seconds. The self-healing polymeric materials can be used to form pressure sensitive adhesives.

The present invention generally relates to microfluidic droplets and, including forming gels within microfluidic droplets. In some aspects, a fluid containing agarose or other gel precursors is transported into a microfluidic droplet, and caused to harden within the droplet, e.g., to form a gel particle contained within the microfluidic droplet. Surprisingly, a discrete gel particle may be formed even if the fluid containing the agarose or other gel precursor, and the fluid contained within the microfluidic droplet, are substantially immiscible. Other aspects of the present invention are generally directed to techniques for making or using such gels within microfluidic droplets, kits containing such gels within microfluidic droplets, or the like.

The subject matter of this invention relates to hydrogel compositions and, more particularly, to hydrogel compositions comprising block copolymers (BCPs) capable of self-assembly into nanoparticles for the delivery and controlled release of therapeutic cargos.

Embodiments described herein relate to hydrogels, and in particular, hydrogels for crystal formation, and related compositions and methods.

Disclosed herein is a novel method of producing monodisperse aqueous droplets, as well as a novel microfluidic droplet generator. In some examples, the method comprises flowing an aqueous solution through a microchannel and into a sample reservoir of the microfluidic droplet generator, wherein monodisperse droplets of the aqueous solution form by step-emulsification at a step change in height at an intersection of a reservoir end of the microchannel and a sidewall of the sample reservoir. In some examples, the aqueous solution is a hydrogel precursor solution and monodisperse droplets of the hydrogel precursor solution form by step-emulsification at the step change in height at the intersection of the reservoir end of the microchannel and the sidewall of the sample reservoir. In some examples, the monodisperse droplets of the hydrogel precursor solution are incubated under conditions suitable for gelation to form hydrogel beads.