Research progress on controllable fabrication of anisotropic microfibers by microfluidics
Anisotropic microfibers have been widely used in many fields such as biomimetic materials,drug-controlled release and biomedicine due to their diverse structures and functions.Microfluidic technology,as a new type of micro-nano material preparation technology,can achieve controllable preparation of various shaped microfibers by adjusting channel structure,fluid properties and flow conditions.This review summarizes recent progress on the controllable fabrication of diverse functional anisotropic microfibers by microfluidics,for use in fields such as pharmaceuticals,chemical engineering,and environment.Fabrication strategies for the controllable fabrication of anisotropic microfibers,including solid-shaped,hollow-shaped,spindle-shaped and spiral-shaped microfibers by designing the structure of microfluidics are introduced.Important ideas for diversifying the functions of shaped microfibers based on their microstructure are discussed.The future development of microfluidics for the controllable fabrication of novel anisotropic microfibers is prospected,with a view to providing important references for the fabrication of highly bionic anisotropic microfibers by strengthening the study of flow mechanism and molding mechanism.