Synthesis of monodisperse biodegradable microgels in microfluidic devices

Microgels are promising materials in drug delivery and biomedicine. Although monodisperse microgels would offer considerable advantages, most microgels investigated and used today are polydisperse in size. We report on the fabrication of 10 mu m sized monodisperse microgels by emulsifying an aqueous dextran-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (dex-HEMA) phase within an oil phase at the junction of microfluidic channels. Dex-HEMA microgels are biodegradable and are ideally suited for the controlled delivery of proteins.