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.