(80c) Electrohydrodynamic Co-Jetting: A Platform for Anisotropic Particle Fabrication

A range of new methods for fabrication of multifunctional colloids with controlled size, shape and surface chemistry have recently emerged, owing to the importance of multifunctionality for major biomedical applications, such as drug delivery or medical imaging. Apart from control of physical and chemical properties, controlled internal particle architecture, or ?patchiness', is a decisive attribute of multicompartmental colloids in determining their applicability. In its simplest form, two compartments are arranged concentrically resulting in core/shell particles. A large number of multifunctional core shell particles have already been synthesized in the past some of which have already been demonstrated to allow for release of two drugs. Beyond core/shell particles, we have developed a process based on electrohydrodynamic co-jetting for synthesizing anisotropic bi- and tri-compartmental micro- and nanocolloids made from a variety of hydrogel and biodegradable materials, where individual compartments are located next to each other. In electrohydrodynamic co-jetting, particle formation is achieved via solvent evaporation in a continuous jet from a Taylor cone that is comprised of a composite droplet containing two or more polymeric solutions co-exruded from nozzles arranged in a side by side configuration. In such particles, release kinetics can be dialed-in independently for each compartment. Furthermore, by tailoring process and solution properties, simultaneous control over shape, size, and compartmentalization can be achieved, which has been hitherto unseen. Furthermore, incorporation of magnetite nanoparticles, optical pigments and functionalized polymers in the jetting solutions has been utilized to yield truly multidimensional particles which can employed in a variety of applications such as smart drug release systems, biomedical imaging, multiplexed bioassays, self-assembled structural elements and switchable displays.