Abstract:

Glucose responsive gel fibers have potential application prospects in the development of glucose sensors for monitoring blood glucose levels. In this work, poly(N-ispropylacrylamide/3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid)(P(NIPAM-co-AAPBA)) glucose sensitive hydrogel fibers were fabricated via microfluidic spinning and off-chip free radical polymerization reaction. The structure and morphology, mechanical properties, swelling kinetics and glucose responsiveness of the gel fibers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer(FTIR), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and mechanical test. The results show that the gel fibers have porous microstructures, and their diameters could be controlled by changing the flow rates of the core and sheath layer solution. With the increase of AAPBA mass fraction, the swelling rate and equilibrium swelling degree of the gel fibers are decreased, but the glucose response performance is improved. Compared with the chemically cross-linked gel fibers, the physically cross-linked gel fibers have good mechanical properties.

Key words: microfluidic spinning, gel fibers, glucose responsive, acrylamidophenylboronic acid