Functional Shape-Morphing Microarchitectures Fabricated by Dynamic Holographically Shifted Femtosecond Multifoci

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 22; no. 13; pp. 5277 - 5286
• Main Authors: Zhang, Leran, Liu, Bingrui, Wang, Chaowei, Xin, Chen, Li, Rui, Wang, Dawei, Xu, Liqun, Fan, Shengying, Zhang, Juan, Zhang, Chenchu, Hu, Yanlei, Li, Jiawen, Wu, Dong, Zhang, Li, Chu, Jiaru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 13.07.2022
• Subjects: pH-responsive hydrogels; 3D cell culture; femtosecond laser; micro-object trapping; dynamic holographic multifoci
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c01178

Functional microdevices based on responsive hydrogel show great promise in targeted delivery and biomedical analysis. Among state-of-the-art techniques for manufacturing hydrogel-based microarchitectures, femtosecond laser two-photon polymerization distinguishes itself by high designability and precision, but the point-by-point writing scheme requires mechanical apparatuses to support focus scanning. In this work, by predesigning holograms combined with lens phase modulation, multiple femtosecond laser spots are holographically generated and shifted for prototyping of three-dimensional shape-morphing structures without any moving equipment in the construction process. The microcage array is rapidly fabricated for high-performance target capturing enabled by switching environmental pH. Moreover, the built scaffolds can serve as arrayed analytical platforms for observing cell behaviors in normal or changeable living spaces or revealing the anticancer effects of loaded drugs. The proposed approach opens a new path for facile and flexible manufacturing of hydrogel-based functional microstructures with great versatility in micro-object manipulation.