Abstract: The present disclosure is directed an air-liquid-interface culture apparatus including a porous support and a polyacrylamide hydrogel layer. The porous support includes a polymer plate having a plurality of pores and a support surface. The polyacrylamide hydrogel layer is deposited onto the support surface of the porous support. The polyacrylamide hydrogel layer includes a polyacrylamide hydrogel having mechanical properties that mimic the extracellular matrix for epithelial cells in the human airway. An air-liquid-interface cell culture system disclosed herein may include the air-liquid-interface culture apparatus disclosed herein with one or more cells deposited on the polyacrylamide hydrogel layer.

Abstract: Existing feedstock for additive manufacturing is mostly stiff, fragile plastics. We report a class of 3D printable, ultrasoft and stretchable elastomers by exploiting the self-assembly of responsive bottlebrush-based triblock copolymers. The microphase separation of the architecturally and chemically distinct blocks results in physically crosslinked networks that are stimuli-reversible, enabling their use for in-situ direct-write printing soft, elastic, and deformable 3D structures. The elastomers are 100% solvent-reprocessable yet thermostable within a wide range of temperature. Moreover, they exhibit an extensibility up to 600% and a Young's modulus low to ˜102 Pa, 106 times softer than plastics and more than 100 times softer than all existing 3D printable elastomers.

Abstract: Systems and methods for 3D bioprinting of hydrogel voxels enable microfluidics-assisted digital assembly of spherical particles (DASP). The systems include a 3D motion system, a microfluidic printhead coupled to the 3D motion system, an extrusion device fluidly coupled to the microfluidic printhead, and a sacrificial support matrix. The sacrificial support matrix is designed to support the hydrogel voxels during printing and cross-link the hydrogel voxels. The system includes bio-inks comprising hydrogel compositions having independently controllable viscoelasticity and mesh size. The bio-inks are extruded by the extrusion device and microfluidic printhead to produce the hydrogel voxels. Exploiting the microfluidic printhead enables printing individual spherical hydrogel voxels with diameters from 150 micrometers (?m) to 1200 ?m. Positioning and interconnection of the hydrogel voxels can be precisely controlled.