Bio-inspired jellyfish microparticles from microfluidics

No-spherical particles have attracted increasing interest due to their shape anisotropy. However, the current methods to prepare anisotropic particles suffer from complex generation processes and limited shape diversity. Here, we develop a piezoelectric microfluidic system to generate complex flow configurations and fabricate jellyfish-like microparticles. In this delicate system, the piezoelectric vibration could evolve a jellyfish-like flow configuration in the microchannel and the in situ photopolymerization could instantly capture the flow architecture. The sizes and morphologies of the particles are precisely controlled by tuning the piezoelectric and microfluidic parameters. Besides, multi-compartmental microparticles with a dual-layer structure are achieved by modifying the injecting channel geometry. Moreover, such unique a shape endows the particles with flexible motion ability especially when stimuli-responsive materials are incorporated. Based on that, we demonstrate the capability of the jellyfish-like microparticles in highly efficient adsorption of organic pollutants under external control. Thus, it is believed that such jellyfish-like microparticles are highly versatile in potential applications and the piezoelectric-integrated microfluidic strategy could open an avenue for the creation of such anisotropic particles.

Automated summary

A piezoelectric microfluidic system is developed to generate complex flow configurations and fabricate jellyfish-like microparticles with precise control over size and morphology. By modifying the injecting channel geometry, multi-compartmental microparticles with a dual-layer structure can be achieved. These jellyfish-like microparticles exhibit flexible motion ability, especially when incorporating stimuli-responsive materials.