Replicating 3D printed structures into hydrogels

Abstract

Fabricating complicated three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel structures are important in biological studies. Herein, stereolithographic printed acrylate-based masters with different complicated 3D geometry (e.g. dodecahedron and a trifurcating network) were replicated into alginate and gelatin. Alginate was further used as a sacrificial template to fabricate a perfusable microfluidic network in cell-seeded agarose to sustain the cell viability in a large slab of agarose scaffold. With the replication approach, 3D alginate (a photo-insensitive material) constructs with stereolithographic (a photolithographic technology) grade resolution and structural complexity were fabricated.