Reconfigurable Flow Reactors Assembled from 3DPrinted Self-Healing Hydrogel Modules
- 1Life-Like Materials and Systems, Department of Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 10-14, Mainz, Germany, 55128
Abstract
Here, we introduce millimeter-scale fluidic reactors assembled from digital-light-processing (DLP)-printed self-healing hydrogel modules. A poly(acrylic acid-co-2-acrylamidophenylboronic acid)/poly(vinyl alcohol) formulation combines photoprintability with dynamic interfacial association. Printed modules contain straight, curved, branched, looping, and crossing channels, as well as mixing chambers. When brought into contact under ambient conditions, separate modules form liquid-tight interfaces that support continuous flow. Joined elements can subsequently be separated, rearranged, and rejoined to construct new fluidic circuits from the same building blocks. Finally, reactors containing active mixing chambers are used to perform a competitive thiol–maleimide reaction. Changing only the position at which two competing thiols enter the reactor shifts the apparent product ratio from 95:5 to 17:83 or 94:6. These results establish self-healing interfaces as reversible fluidic connections and provide a materials-based strategy for constructing reconfigurable flow reactors.
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BibTeX
@misc{ciardi2026reconfigurable,
title = {{Reconfigurable Flow Reactors Assembled from 3DPrinted Self-Healing Hydrogel Modules}},
author = {Diego Ciardi and Youssef Elbishbishy and Piet J. M. Swinkels and Andreas Walther},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15009341/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009341/v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Reconfigurable Flow Reactors Assembled from 3DPrinted Self-Healing Hydrogel Modules
AU - Diego Ciardi
AU - Youssef Elbishbishy
AU - Piet J. M. Swinkels
AU - Andreas Walther
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15009341/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009341/v1
AB - Here, we introduce millimeter-scale fluidic reactors assembled from digital-light-processing (DLP)-printed self-healing hydrogel modules. A poly(acrylic acid-co-2-acrylamidophenylboronic acid)/poly(vinyl alcohol) formulation combines photoprintability with dynamic interfacial association. Printed modules contain straight, curved, branched, looping, and crossing channels, as well as mixing chambers. When brought into contact under ambient conditions, separate modules form liquid-tight interfaces that support continuous flow. Joined elements can subsequently be separated, rearranged, and rejoined to construct new fluidic circuits from the same building blocks. Finally, reactors containing active mixing chambers are used to perform a competitive thiol–maleimide reaction. Changing only the position at which two competing thiols enter the reactor shifts the apparent product ratio from 95:5 to 17:83 or 94:6. These results establish self-healing interfaces as reversible fluidic connections and provide a materials-based strategy for constructing reconfigurable flow reactors.
ER -