Table 1.

Composition and initial properties of alginate beads.

				Mc, g/mol		Mesh size (ξ), nm
Bead	Alginate wt%	CaCl2 mM	ν2 vol%	Swelling	Rheology	Swelling	Rheology
1–100	1.0	100	0.239 ± 0.018	2674 ± 617	6518 ± 1287	19.3 ± 2.7	30.0 ± 2.7
1–200	1.0	200	0.264 ± 0.003	1921 ± 59	4510 ± 670	15.8 ± 0.3	24.2 ± 1.7
2–100	2.0	100	0.351 ± 0.011	781 ± 85	3942 ± 346	9.2 ± 0.6	14.2 ± 0.8
2–200	2.0	200	0.513 ± 0.021	211 ± 30	2692 ± 6	4.2 ± 0.4	10.6 ± 0.1