Hydrogels prepared from biopolymers, such as collagen, elastin, fibroin, and gelatin (denatured collagen) hold a remarkable promise for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Hydrogel scaffolds typically have coupled porosity and stiffness and suffer from impaired nutrient and oxygen permeation when they are thick (e.g., >200 µm), limiting their applications in 3D tissue engineering. We have introduced a facile, universal strategy to convert macromolecules with orthogonal physicochemical responsivity, such as thermo-chemically crosslinkable biopolymers, into injectable bead-based scaffolds with a microporous structure. This technology eliminates the necessity of bioorthogonality for developing 3D macromolecular cell scaffolds.

We are highly interested in designing functional biomaterials in a bottom-up approach via breaking down bulk materials into small (micro/nanoscale) compartments, hand-pick them, and customize their assembly into meso/macroscale constructs with finely tuned structure-property relationships. These injectable microporous granular hydrogels open a myriad of new opportunities in healthcare, water, food, and energy sectors. We are currently focused on the tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and biosensing applications of these novel hydrogels.