Recent Developments of Nanomaterials in Hydrogels: Characteristics, Influences, and Applications

Abstract

In recent years, due to their good physical and chemical properties, nanocomposite hydrogels have shown great application potential in the fields of biomedicine, sensors, 3D printing, and water pollution control. Compared with pure polymer hydrogels, the superior performance of nanocomposite hydrogels is mainly due to the influence of nanomaterials on the internal structure and composition of the hydrogels. In this paper, starting from the basic properties required for practical applications of hydrogels, the influence of nanomaterials on the different properties of hydrogels is discussed. Meanwhile, this paper reviews the research status of nanocomposite hydrogels in different application fields, and emphasizes the challenges and development prospects of nanocomposite hydrogel applications.

Engineering functional natural polymer-based nanocomposite hydrogels for wound healing

“…[48][49][50][51] To address these limitations, some functional nanomaterials were incorporated into the hydrogel network to improve antibacterial, antioxidant, and mechanical properties, and electrical conductivity of NPHs as wound dressings to accelerate wound healing. 52,53 In addition, the combination also reduces the limitations of nanomaterials in wound healing, such as causing inammation on wounds due to a large amount of abrupt release of nanomaterials with a small size. 52,54 Moreover, some nanomaterials can be easily removed due to their undesirable adhesive performance to biological tissue.…”

“…52,53 In addition, the combination also reduces the limitations of nanomaterials in wound healing, such as causing inammation on wounds due to a large amount of abrupt release of nanomaterials with a small size. 52,54 Moreover, some nanomaterials can be easily removed due to their undesirable adhesive performance to biological tissue. 55 Representative nanomaterials commonly used in NNPHs for wound healing mainly include carbon-based, [56][57][58][59][60][61][62] metal-based, [63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] MXene-based [71][72][73][74][75] and siliconbased [76][77][78] nanomaterials, as shown in Table 2 and Fig.…”

Application of optical hydrogels in environmental sensing

“…Combining the properties of each comonomer can generate new properties [21] . The most significant advantage of hydrogels is their compatibility with various materials, which allows them to effectively load nanomaterials, polymers, drugs, biomacromolecules, and even living cells [22][23][24][25] . Moreover, as loading matrixes, hydrogels can retain and enhance the properties of their loaded contents and even eliminate some of their inherent defects.…”

Electric Field Guided Fast and Oriented Assembly of MXene into Scalable Pristine Hydrogels for Customized Energy Storage and Water Evaporation Applications

“…[1] However, the realization of such ideal assembly methods becomes difficult for a number of macrostructures, especially hydrogels, which offer multidimensional benefits with their hydrophilic porous structure and restacking controlled high surface characteristics. [2][3][4] Due to the relatively nascent stage of MXene hydrogel research, the search for an ideal assembling strategy that is versatile enough to meet the modern-day application requirements while being equally sustainable is still on.…”