Hydrogels are polymeric networks having the ability to absorb a large volume of water. Flexibility, versatility, stimuli-responsive, soft structure are the advantages of hydrogels. It is classified based on its source, preparation, ionic charge, response, crosslinking and physical properties. Hydrogels are used in various fields like agriculture, food industry, biosensor, biomedical, etc. Even though hydrogels are used in various industries, more researches are going in the field of biomedical applications because of its resembles to living tissue, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Here, we are mainly focused on the commercially available hydrogels used for biomedical applications like wound dressings, contact lenses, cosmetic applications, tissue engineering, and drug delivery.

The apparent switching temperatures (Tsw,app), which need to be exceeded by the environmental temperature (Tenv) to initialize a shape‐memory effect (SME) in magnetosensitive dual‐ or triple‐shape composites, are systematically adjusted by application of a constant weak alternating magnetic field. This adaptation of Tsw,app is fully reversible and results from the combination of environmental and inductive heating.

Artificial skin substitute made of polymeric films are of great demand in the field of skin tissue engineering. We report here the fabrication of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) blend films by solution casting method for wound healing applications. The physicochemical characteristics and the thermal stability of the films were analyzed. The surface morphology shows crystalline structures with large hexagonal-like platelet crystals of CMC on the surface of the films. Pure CMC films exhibited higher tensile strength than the CMC/PEG blend films. The swelling ratio (SR) of the films was influenced by the pH of Tris–HCL buffer (2.0, 5.0, and 7.0), which increased with increase in pH. The hemocompatibility assay and cytotoxicity test using NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells showed that the films were biocompatible. To evaluate the wound healing efficacy, the films were applied in full-thickness wounds created in normal and diabetic Wistar albino rats. The wounds healed faster with pure CMC film compared to blend films in both normal and diabetic rats, evidenced by intensive collagen formation in histopathological analysis. Thus, the films have potential application in skin regeneration, thereby to restore the structural and functional characteristics of the skin.

Natural fiber reinforced hybrid polymer composites have gained extensive applications in recent decades owing to their damping, low density, biodegradability, and low‐cost benefits. This research explores the impact of the surface treatment, and the number of ramie fiber layers on the vibrational and mechanical characteristics of a glass/ramie fiber reinforced hybrid polymer composite. The composite is made of outer layer (glass fiber) and inner layer (ramie fiber) at different concentrations (varying between 2, 3, and 4). The ramie was pre‐treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at different weight percentages (1%, 2%, and 5%). The composites have been fabricated using the vacuum bag technique. The composites have been characterized for chemical, mechanical, morphological, and free vibrational analysis. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope have been used to study the chemical characteristics and morphological study of the composites respectively. The mechanical properties of the composite were evaluated through tensile and flexural testing. The hybrid composite reinforced with two layers of ramie fiber as the core with 2% pre‐treated shows the maximum tensile strength of 120 MPa and flexural modulus of 12,147 MPa. Overall, the hybridization and NaOH pre‐treatment to certain ratio helps in increase in the hybrid composite's mechanical strength compared to the natural fiber composite.

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