Alginate crosslinking beyond calcium: Unlocking the potential of a range of divalent cations for fiber formation.

Alginate is a promising biopolymer for functional materials' preparation due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high reactivity with metal cations. This study aims to advance the understanding of the crosslinking dynamics of alginate hydrogels, with the hypothesis of developing a reliable wet spinning method for preparing tunable alginate fibers crosslinked not only with Ca, but also with Sr, Ba, Mn, Cu, Zn. We optimized multiple parameters to successfully produce fibers with consistent cross-sections and lengths of up to several meters.