Castro Johnbosco

All Publications

• Arresting Microphase Separation Encodes Material Mechanics by Sculpting Microarchitectures and Local Polymer Enrichment ADVANCED MATERIALS Johnbosco, C., Dalenoord, F., Hiemstra, J., Na, Y., Wolfel, A., Bosmans, C., Gering, C., Willemen, N., Shin, S., Leijten, J. 2025: e12578

  Abstract

  Mechanical properties are central to material functionality. Although aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) can generate microarchitectures in soft materials such as hydrogels, their influence on mechanics, particularly toughness and energy dissipation, remains poorly understood. Here, diverse microarchitectures are systematically engineered within materials via ATPS-induced local polymer enrichment, which yielding inverse globular, globular, and spinodal patterns, and revealing that each microarchitecture exhibits distinct mechanical behaviors. Most notably, spinodal hydrogel designs improve load distribution, increase fracture resistance, and promote efficient energy dissipation. These insights are used to develop and introduce single polymer phase separation (SPPS) as an innovative strategy to sculpt microarchitectures by tuning the ionic concentration, which overcomes traditional limitations of dual polymer systems. This novel approach enables scalable, low-complexity, and chemically clean control over stiffness, toughness, and energy dissipation, independent of secondary polymers. Beyond mechanical advantages, spinodal architectures also support enhanced cell migration and biological activity. These findings demonstrate that microarchitectural design, rather than total polymer composition alone, dictates hydrogel mechanics. ATPS and SPPS provide robust and scalable methods to encode distinct mechanical and functional properties via microarchitecture variations into hydrogels, opening opportunities across tissue engineering, biofabrication, soft electronics, and food engineering.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/adma.202512578

  View details for Web of Science ID 001633920100001

  View details for PubMedID 41369186

• Bioxolography Using Diphenyliodonium Chloride and <i>N</i>-Vinylpyrrolidone Enables Rapid High-Resolution Volumetric 3D Printing of Spatially Encoded Living Matter ADVANCED MATERIALS Wolfel, A., Johnbosco, C., Anspach, A., Meteling, M., Olijve, J., Koenig, N., Leijten, J. 2025; 37 (37): e2501052

  Abstract

  Light-based volumetric bioprinting enables fabrication of cubic centimeter-sized living materials with micrometer resolution in minutes. Xolography is a light sheet-based volumetric printing technology that offers unprecedented volumetric generation rates and print resolutions for hard plastics. However, the limited solubility and reactivity of current dual-color photoinitiators (DCPIs) in aqueous media have hindered their application for high-resolution bioprinting of living matter. Here, we present a novel three-component formulation that drastically improves photoreactivity and thereby enables high-resolution, rapid, and cytocompatible Xolographic biofabrication of intricately architected yet mechanically robust living materials. To achieve this, various relevant additives are systematically explored, which revealed that diphenyliodonium chloride and N-vinylpyrrolidone strongly enhance D-mediated photoreactivity, as confirmed by dual-color photo-rheology. This enables Xolographic bioprinting of gelatin methacryloyl-based bioresins, producing >1 cm3 constructs at ≈20 µm positive and 125 µm negative resolution within minutes. Multimaterial printing, molecular patterning, and grayscale-mediated mechanical patterning are explored to programmably create intricate, biomimetic, and concentration-controlled architectures. We demonstrate the Bioxolographic printing of various cell types, showing excellent cell viability, compatibility with long-term culture, and ability for nascent protein deposition. These results position Bioxolography as a transformative platform for rapid, scalable, high-resolution fabrication of functional living materials with encoded chemical and mechanical properties.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/adma.202501052

  View details for Web of Science ID 001476744100001

  View details for PubMedID 40285580

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12447060