Tofu-inspired microcarriers from droplet microfluidics for drug delivery

Microcarriers have attracted increasing interests in drug delivery. In order to develop this technique, it is prone to focus on the generation of functional particles through using simple approaches and novel but accessible materials. Here, inspired by the formation mechanism of tofu that through the mixing of soymilk and brine for cross-linking soybean proteins, we present novel soybean protein microcarriers by using microfluidic generation approach for drug delivery. Since the soybean protein droplets are generated by microfluidic emulsification method, the tofu microparticles present highly monodisperse and homogeneous morphologies. Because of the excellent biocompatibility of the soybean protein and the interconnected porous structures throughout the whole microparticles after freeze-drying, various kinds of drugs and active molecules could be absorbed and loaded in the microcarriers, which makes them versatile for drug delivery. It can be anticipated that the microfluidic-generated tofu microcarriers will have great potential in the biomedical field.