When sodium alginate reacts with the calcium, it forms pearls of gel encasing the liquid. (newscientist.com)
«We had to try several concentrations of alginate in order to obtain a sphere, solid outside and liquid inside,» Prista explains. (sciencemag.org)
To eliminate uncontrolled variables, the team designed a new material model that uses alginate gel, instead of collagen, to stiffen the extracellular matrix without binding to any cell receptors. (sciencedaily.com)