A novel lignin-containing hydrogel-assisted technology offers a promising green approach for lignin fractionation.

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Multifunctional sprayable hydrogels are widely developed for daily chemical and biomedical application. However, adding functional components and active ingredients is difficult to achieve uniform distribution and controlled release. Here, a new kind of lignin‐based nanoparticles is prepared, which can give hydrogels more functions (anti‐ultraviolet and antioxidant properties) and promote the response of hydrogels to pH stimulus. The nanocomposite hydrogels are engineered using carboxymethyl chitosan (CS) and trans‐resveratrol‐loaded lignin‐based nanoparticles (LRNPs). The rheological, anti‐ultraviolet, and antioxidant properties of the sprayable hydrogel can be fine‐tuned by varying the ratio of lignin‐based nanoparticles. More importantly, the release behavior of the active ingredient can be flexibly controlled by adjusting the pH environment. This work provides a facile approach to fabricate a green and intelligent sprayable hydrogel amenable to a great potential in daily chemical and biomedical area.

Development of biomass-based and some other sustainable biomedical materials is a key subject and effective approach to biomass high-value utilization. In this work, we used cellulose resources to develop a photoresponse hydrogel (PR-gel) by integrating 4arm-PEG and azobenzene into cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). This novel PR-gel exhibited good mechanical strength (storage modulus over 10 3 Pa), structure stability, reversible recoverability between sustained step strain of 1% and 1000%, and excellent biocompatibility. Under UV irradiation (λ = 365 nm, 10 mW/cm 2 , 10 min), the azobenzene cross-linker in PR-gel as photoswitch can cause the trans-cis isomerism and a softening effect of the hydrogel, thus realized the photo-controlled release of bovine serum albumin (BSA) (5-fold higher release rate under UV light irradiation). This work provided a new approach to design cellulose-based photoresponsive hydrogels. It is also can expand the application of cellulose-based hydrogels and some other sustainable materials in the biomedical field.