Preparation of Porous Calcium Alginate Membranes/Microspheres via an Emulsion Templating Method

Abstract Summary: A method is presented that can produce ordered macroporous alginate membranes and microspheres with a relatively narrow pore size distribution as compared to other existing porous alginate matrix generating procedures. The calcium alginate membranes and microspheres obtained were multiporous, and the pore size could readily be adjusted in the range of 1 to 10 µm by selecting appropriate initial emulsion parameters. A preliminary set of experiments was used to determine a range of conditions suitable for the formation of stable O/W emulsions consinsting of the alginate solution, liquid paraffin and surfactants. The obtained emulsions were characterized by size distribution measurements and optical microscopy. The emulsions were used to form alginate membranes and microspheres with diameters of 150–500 µm. Subsequent work was performed to remove liquid paraffin droplets, the dispersed phase of the emulsion which acted as template in the pore‐generating process, from the final alginate membranes and microspheres. The states of templates in hydrogels and the effect of template removal on the calcium alginate structures were thoroughly investigated. Porous alginate membranes prepared via emulsion templating method. image Porous alginate membranes prepared via emulsion templating method.