Gelling kinetics and in situ mineralization of alginate hydrogels: A correlative spatiotemporal characterization toolbox.

Unlabelled: Due to their large water content and structural similarities to the extracellular matrix, hydrogels are an attractive class of material in the tissue engineering field. Polymers capable of ionotropic gelation are of special interest due to their ability to form gels at mild conditions. In this study we have developed an experimental toolbox to measure the gelling kinetics of alginate upon crosslinking with calcium ions.