Three-dimensional calcium alginate hydrogel patterning by using TiOPc-based controllable electrodeposition

We report a feasible light-addressable electrodepostion approach to realize rapidly controllable fabrication of 3D hydrogel structure on an organic photoconductive material electrode surface. The fabrication process is carried out by using an optical system setup. A pattern produced by a visible-light projection system is projected onto the titanium oxide phthalocyanine (TiOPc) coated chip as a virtual electrode and a DC electric felid is applied between the ITO glass and the TiOPc chip. The DC electric fields trigger the sodium alginate cross-link with the calcium ions (Ca ²⁺ ) to form the 3D caalginate hydrogel in situ on the top of the TiOPc electrode surface simply. This study provides flexible and controllable 3D gel structure fabrication method, which would facilitate the research of drug testing and tissue engineering.