ENHANCING STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF GRANULAR HYDROGELS THROUGH SURFACE ROUGHNESS MODULATION OF MICROGELS

Granular hydrogels have recently garnered significant attention in tissue engineering and bioprinting for their shear-thinning and self-healing properties, as well as their tunable porosity [1].These hydrogels, comprising microgel particles larger than 10 microns, primarily depend on frictional interactions between the particles for structural integrity [2].Traditional approaches to enhance these interactions have involved complex methods like interparticle cross-linking [3], which adds complexity to the fabrication process, or