Nanofibrillar thermoreversible micellar microgels†
Abstract
By using microfluidics, we generated micellar nanofibrillar microgels from solutions of worm-like micelles of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)-block-polystyrene. The microgels were formed under physiological conditions (pH = 7.4, 37 °C) and rapidly dissociated upon cooling to 25–27 °C, thereby enabling cell encapsulation and release for further characterization. Our work offers a new concept for the generation of dynamic artificial three-dimensional microenvironments for studies of cell fate.