One-Step Preparation of a Highly Stretchable, Conductive, and Transparent Poly(vinyl alcohol)–Phytic Acid Hydrogel for Casual Writing Circuits

Zeng

et al. 2021

Bioactive Materials

166

Polysaccharide hydrogels are widely used in tissue engineering because of their superior biocompatibility and low immunogenicity. However, many of these hydrogels are unrealistic for practical applications as the cost of raw materials is high, and the fabrication steps are tedious. This study focuses on the facile fabrication and optimization of agarose-polydopamine hydrogel (APG) scaffolds for skin wound healing. The first study objective was to evaluate the effects of polydopamine (PDA) on the mechanical properties, water holding capacity and cell adhesiveness of APG. We observed that APG showed decreased rigidity and increased water content with the addition of PDA. Most importantly, decreased rigidity translated into significant increase in cell adhesiveness. Next, the slow biodegradability and high biocompatibility of APG with the highest PDA content (APG3) was confirmed. In addition, APG3 promoted full-thickness skin defect healing by accelerating collagen deposition and promoting angiogenesis. Altogether, we have developed a straightforward and efficient strategy to construct functional APG scaffold for skin tissue engineering, which has translation potentials in clinical practice.

“…2 C and Figure S2C ). The successful formation of hydrogels was confirmed by G′ > G″ [ [37] , [38] , [39] ]. We observed that the value of G′ decreased with the addition of PDA.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mussel-inspired agarose hydrogel scaffolds for skin tissue engineering

Zeng

et al. 2021

Bioactive Materials

166

“…In general, once the PVA hydrogels undergo the freezing-thawing process, the high crystallization of PVA polymer chains induced by the F-T process leads to a strong toughness but very low transparency. To improve the transparency, PVA hydrogels could be prepared via low-temperature crystallization using the mixed solvent (H 2 O/DMSO) [38]. However, the toxicity of DMSO and its difficulty to handle limit its application.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly stretchable gamma-irradiated poly (vinyl alcohol)/Tannic acid composite hydrogels with superior transparency and antibacterial activity

et al. 2021

The development of facile and cost-effective strategies for hydrogels with multifunctionality is of great scientific interest. In this work, a series of poly (vinyl alcohol)/tannic acid (PVA/TA) composite hydrogels were facilely prepared by gamma radiation of a PVA solution and subsequent soaking treatment in TA solutions. The chemical composition, transparency, microstructure, mechanical property and antibacterial activity of the resulting composite hydrogels were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM, tensile measurements and an antibacterial test, respectively. The introduction of TA into the gamma radiation-induced chemically cross-linked networks of PVA hydrogels via the soaking treatment, which forms the second physically cross-linked networks, endows the PVA hydrogels with improved mechanical performance. The tensile strength, toughness and elongation at break of the composite hydrogel were increased by 1500 % (from 18 kPa to 254 kPa), 3600 % (from 8.5 kJ m −3 to 315 kJ m −3 ) and 360 % (from 87 to 403 %), respectively. Meanwhile, high transparency of the neat irradiated PVA hydrogels was maintained in the obtained composite hydrogels (transmittance over 60 % at 660 nm). The strong hydrogen bonding interaction between PVA and TA within the networks serves as sacrificial bonds and suppresses the crystallinity of the PVA hydrogels. In addition, the composite hydrogels also possess superior antibacterial activity against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. This work provided a simple approach for the construction of multifunctional hydrogels on large-scale preparation, thus would hopefully promote their applications in biomedicine, wound dressings and soft devices.

“…Moreover, the black additives may also considerably impact on the optical transparency of hybrid hydrogels, causing less visual aesthetics and limiting their application scope. To solve above problems, traditional ionic conductive matters like salts, [ 11 ] ionic liquid, [ 11b,12 ] and small organic acid [ 13 ] have been attempted to introduce into the hydrogel matrix as well. Besides, the ionic conductive hydrogels always hold some other merits as anti‐freezing property and low volatility of water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conductive and Tough Smart Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogels Hybridized by Green Deep Eutectic Solvent

Gao

Macro Chemistry & Physics

et al. 2020

Self Cite

Conductive smart hydrogels with several virtues such as similar characters to biological tissues, sensitive response to ambient variations, have shown their excellent talents in the field of flexible electrical sensors, biomedical devices and directional transportation. However, complex preparing approaches or the instable inner structures have not only been time‐consuming, but also broken up the performance and reliability of the smart hydrogel‐based devices. In this work, a facile one‐step method is put forward to synthesize a kind of conductive poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel doped by a new green solvent of deep eutectic solvent (DES) containing choline chloride (ChCl) and acrylic acid (AA). Through the copolymerization of AA and NIPAM, the mechanical strength of the DES‐doped PNIPAM hydrogels is drastically improved compared to the pure PNIPAM gels, and some doped hydrogels lost the typical phase transition temperature of PNIPAM. Moreover, due to the ionic property of DES, the hybrid hydrogels also present the thermal‐depending conductivity as well as sensitive deformation response, which can be used as a smart switch in a circuit or a sensing element with environmental response ability. The cost‐effective preparation and the attractive performance of the DES‐doped hydrogels offer a new avenue to construct multi‐functional materials.