Squishy Non-Spherical Hydrogel Microparticles

Recent advances in the synthesis of polymeric colloids have opened the doors to new advanced materials. There is strong interest in using these new techniques to produce particles that mimic and/or interact with biological systems. An important characteristic of biological systems that has not yet been exploited in synthetic polymeric colloids is their wide range of deformability. A canonical example of this is the human red blood cell (RBC) which exhibits extreme reversible deformability under flow. Here we report the synthesis of soft polymeric colloids with sizes and shapes that mimic those of the RBC. Additionally, we demonstrate that the mechanical flexibility of the colloids can be reproducibly varied over a large range resulting in RBC-like deformability under physiological flow conditions. These materials have the potential to impact the interaction between biological and synthetic systems.