Perfluorocarbons enhance oxygen transport in alginate-based hydrogels

A major limitation of current soft biomaterials for tissue engineering and cell encapsulation is inadequate transport of oxygen to cells and tissues. Oxygen transport is a challenge in nearly all aqueous hydrogel biomaterials. Here, we report the effective diffusivity of oxygen in alginate-based hydrogels containing stable perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions. Incorporation of 7% perfluorooctyl bromide into the alginate gels was found to increase oxygen permeability by a factor of three. Our work also demonstrates that the increase in oxygen transport is largely due to improved oxygen solubility in PFC-containing gels. Although promising, this improved oxygen transport comes with a trade-off in terms of mechanical robustness. This must be carefully considered in future development of PFC-containing hydrogels for biomedical devices.