Novel Hydrogel Material with Tailored Internal Architecture Modified by “Bio” Amphiphilic Components—Design and Analysis by a Physico-Chemical Approach

Abstract

Nowadays, hydrogels are found in many applications ranging from the industrial to the biological (e.g., tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, cosmetics, water treatment, and many more). According to the specific needs of individual applications, it is necessary to be able to modify the properties of hydrogel materials, particularly the transport and mechanical properties related to their structure, which are crucial for the potential use of the hydrogels in modern material engineering. Therefore, the possibility of preparing hydrogel materials with tunable properties is a very real topic and is still being researched. A simple way to modify these properties is to alter the internal structure by adding another component. The addition of natural substances is convenient due to their biocompatibility and the possibility of biodegradation. Therefore, this work focused on hydrogels modified by a substance that is naturally found in the tissues of our body, namely lecithin. Hydrogels were prepared by different types of crosslinking (physical, ionic, and chemical). Their mechanical properties were monitored and these investigations were supplemented by drying and rehydration measurements, and supported by the morphological characterization of xerogels. With the addition of natural lecithin, it is possible to modify crucial properties of hydrogels such as porosity and mechanical properties, which will play a role in the final applications.

The Rheological Properties and Texture of Agar Gels with Canola Oil—Effect of Mixing Rate and Addition of Lecithin

“…Frequency sweep curves of agar gel with different additions of lecithin at a temperature of 50 °C show that the incorporation of phospholipid leads to an increase in the G′ and G′’ moduli ( Figure 2 b), which is in agreement with results obtained by Heger et al [ 15 ] for agarose gels. Also, the increase in the concentration of lecithin causes the values of the viscoelastic parameters, which can be linked with the increase in dry matter content in agar–oil–lecithin mixtures.…”

“…Additionally, the addition of lecithin causes the increase in the G′ of fine-strained networks, but a decrease in the particulate network. Heger et al [ 15 ] note the addition of lecithin to agarose hydrogel increases the values of G′ and G″, which is correlated with the higher content of dry matter. Also, the storage modulus is dominant, which indicates the presence of gel with a fully cross-linked structure.…”

“…Lecithin is an amphiphilic mixture of phospholipids, which can improve the functionality and applicability of gels by the rearrangement of designed materials structure. Lecithin can play a role as a gelling agent and as a surfactant in the presence of required solvent [ 15 ]. Lecithin is also widely used as an emulsifier in the food industry.…”

Study of Hybrid Hydrogel Based on Polyvinyl Alcohol with Respect to Tailoring of the Internal Structure by Lecithin

“…Hydrogel is known as a hydrophilic polymer with three-dimensional chemically or/and physically crosslinked network [1], which is able to absorb and hold large amounts of water or biological uids to a thousand times their own weight [2]. Hydrogels are able to be prepared by using natural or synthetic polymers, or their combination [3], which has the opposite yet complementary mechanical responses to each other.…”

Editorial on Special Issue “Advances in Hydrogels”

“…Moreover, the synthesis of responsive hydrogels with excellent injectability and biodegradability is also attractive. Steinman and Domb synthesized a sensitive poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic acid)-S-S-poly(lactic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-PLA-SS-PLA-PEG) copolymer by the grafting of PEG via urethane linkages, which could form a hydrogel above 32 °C, collapse immediately upon the reaction with NaBH 4 , and be degraded slowly by hydrolytic degradation [ 5 ]. This hydrogel may be applied in drug-delivery vehicles with slow-release behavior and immediate-release behavior under the action of reducing agents.…”