Stereoscopic Molding of Materials with Hierarchical Structure by Hydrogel Adhesion

Abstract

Additive manufacturing of polymeric materials has attracted much attention. In this paper, we provide an overview of research on stimuli-responsive adhesion of hydrogels for fabrication of 3D hydrogels. We investigated an electrophoretic adhesion of hydrogels, wrinkle structures of adhesive interfaces, and stereoscopic molding of hydrogel architectures using gel-beads. Present adhesion method will be a powerful method for fabrication of hydrogel architecture with hierarchical structure such as scaffolds for cell-culture, carriers of drug release system, and soft-actuators.