The "Tissue-Regenerative Soft Materials" Group is a joint group of the Laboratories for 'Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles' and 'Biointerfaces' in Empa's Research Focus Area 'Health'. With an interdisciplinary team of polymer scientists, biologists, and biomedical engineers, we focus on the development of functional polymers and multi-scale processing technologies to achieve soft materials for in vitro tissue engineering and in vivo tissue regeneration. 

• Design and Synthesis of Polymers: We create polymers with customized structures and bioactive functionalities to meet specific research and application needs.
• Fabrication of Soft Materials and Devices: Utilizing advanced techniques such as injection molding, electrospinning, and microfluidic wet-spinning, we develop innovative soft materials and devices.
• Biological Response Evaluation: We conduct comprehensive studies to assess the biological responses to our designed soft materials. 

Stanger, K.; Bajrami, D.; Wahl, P.; Moriarty, F.; Gautier, E.; Dommann, A.; Wei, K. Enabling Hydrogel Coating on Silicone Breast Implants with Poly(Vinyl Acetate) Primer Layer, RSC Applied Interfaces, 2025, 2, 755. 
https://doi.org/10.1039/D4LF00301B

Hammer, T.; Yang, K.; Spirig, T.; Meier-Schiesser, B.; Rottmar, M.; Maniura-Weber, K,; Rossi, M. R.; Wei, K. Mechanically robust non-swelling cold water fish gelatin hydrogels for 3D Bioprinting. Materials Today Bio, 2025, 32, 101701.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2025.101701

Wei, K.; Wang, W.; Giovannini, G.; Sharma, K.; Rossi, M. R.; Boesel, F. L. A Plug-and-Play Microfluidic Device for Hydrogel Fiber Spinning. Lab Chip, 2025, 25 (6), 1575-1585.
https://doi.org/10.1039/D4LC00783B

Yang, K.; Wei, K.; de Lapeyrière M.; Maniura-Weber, K.; Rottmar, M. Amino-acid-specific thiol-ene coupling governs hydrogel crosslinking mechanism and cell behavior. Cell Reports Physical Science, 2024, 5(2), 101809.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.101809

Wang, W.; Avaro, J.; Hammer, T.; Hämmerle, L.; Silva, F.B.B.; Boesel, F.L.; Rossi, M.R.; Wei, K. Hydrogel-assisted microfluidic wet spinning of poly (lactic acid) fibers from a green and pro-crystallization spinning dope. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024, 481: 148417.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.148417

Kongchang Wei, Dr.
Scientific group leader
Keywords: polymer chemistry and physics; supramolecular biomaterials; tissue engnieering; microfluidics
kongchang.wei@empa.ch

Thomas Ramsauer, Dr.
Laboratory technician
Keywords: Polymer purification and analysis
thomas.ramsauer@empa.ch

Julia Hau, MSc
Laboratory technician
Keywords: Cell culture; Biomechanical testing
julia.hau@empa.ch

Tobias Hammer
PhD candidate, ETHZ, D-HEST
Project: Biomimetic membranes for in vitro skin models
tobias.hammer401@empa.ch

Wuchao Wang
PhD candidate, ETHZ, D-HEST
Project: Microfluidic wet spinning of bio-based polymer fibers
wuchao.wang@empa.ch

Dardan Bajrami
(Guest) PhD candidate, ZHAW; ETHZ, D-HEST
Project: Photothermal-based skin model
dardan.bajrami@empa.ch

Katharina Sribike
(Guest) PhD candidate, ETHZ, D-HEST
Project: Supramolecular hydrogels for in vitro tissue models
katharina.sribike@empa.ch

Dominique Grimm
PhD student, ETHZ, D-HEST
Project: Soft patch for "Swiss Cheese" ventricular septal defect closure
dominique.grimm@empa.ch

Anna-Lena Bauknecht
PhD student, ETHZ, D-HEST
Project: Soft patch for "Swiss Cheese" ventricular septal defect closure
anna-lena.bauknecht@empa.ch

Aslı Gizem Çınar
PhD student, ETHZ, D-HEST
Project: Hydrogel-functionalized sutures
asli.cinar@empa.ch

Tobias Spirig
Master student, ETHZ
Project: Electro-spun soft hydrogel membranes

Martina Steiger
Master student, ETHZ
Project: 3D culturing of immune cells with hydrogels

Lucas Nourrisson
Master student, CPE Lyon
Project: Dynamic hydrogels for tumor modelling

Lucyna Hämmerle
Laboratory technician

Barbara Meier-Schiesser, Dr. med. Dr. sc. nat.
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zürich

Hitendu Dave, Prof. Dr. med.
Congenital Cardiovascular Surgery, Children's Hospital Zürich

SKINTEGRITY

Zürich Heart