Synthesis of Monodisperse PEG/SiO2 Hybrid Microspheres by Microfluidic Methods

In this paper, we reported an effective microfluidic-based method for fast continuous synthesis of monodisperse PEG/SiO2 hybrid microspheres. The T-junction microfluidic chip equipped with rounded channels and the online photopolymerization system were applied for the microspheres microfabrication. The size of the microspheres was well controlled by the rounded channels and flow rate ratios of immiscrible fluids. We can obtain porous PEG microspheres when the hybrid microspheres were corroded by hydrofluoric acid. What's more, the interpenetrating polymer network structures of SiO2 microspheres were obtained after the hybrid microspheres treated via a calcination process.