Figure 1.

Schematic illustration of the preparation of the microspheres and their optical photographs.

Notes: (A) Schematic illustration of SPIO/Ca-ALG microspheres prepared using a T-junction microfluidic device with Na-ALG aqueous solution containing various amount of SPIO NPs as a dispersed phase and liquid paraffin containing CaCl₂ NPs and span 80 as a continuous phase. (B) The optical photographs of Ca-ALG microspheres without SPIO NPs. (C) The optical photographs of Ca-ALG microspheres encapsulated with 3 mg/mL SPIO NPs.

Abbreviations: O, oil phase; W, aqueous phase; SPIO, superparamagnetic iron oxide; Ca-ALG, calcium alginate; Na-ALG, sodium alginate; NPs, nanoparticles.