Microfluidics for processing of biomaterials

Abstract

Microfluidics techniques can be used to process a wide range of biomaterials, from synthetic to natural origin ones. This chapter describes microfluidic processing of biomaterials, mainly polymeric materials of natural origin, focusing on water-soluble polymers that form non-flowing phases after crosslinking. Some polysaccharides and proteins, including agarose, alginate, chitosan, gellan gum, hyaluronic acid, collagen, gelatin, and silk fibroin are emphasized deu to their relevance in the field. The critical characteristics of these materials are discussed, giving particular consideration to those that directly impact its processability using microfluidics. Furthermore, some microfluidic-based processing techniques are presented, describing their suitability to process materials with different sol-gel transition mechanisms.