Self-healing pH-sensitive poly[(methyl vinyl ether)-alt-(maleic acid)]-based supramolecular hydrogels formed by inclusion complexation between cyclodextrin and adamantane

Self-healing materials are of interest for drug delivery, cell and gene therapy, tissue engineering, and other biomedical applications. In this work, on the base of biocompatible polymer poly(methyl vinyl ether- alt -maleic acid) (P(MVE- alt -MA)), host polymer β-cyclodextrin-grafted P(MVE- alt -MA) (P(MVE- alt -MA)- g -β-CD) and guest polymer adamantane-grafted P(MVE- alt -MA) (P(MVE- alt -MA)- g -Ad) were first prepared. Then through taking advantage of the traditional host-guest interaction of β-cyclodextrin and adamantane, a novel self-healing pH-sensitive physical P(MVE- alt -MA)- g -β-CD/P(MVE- alt -MA)- g -Ad supramolecular hydrogels were obtained after simply mixing the aqueous solution of host polymer and guest polymer. This kind of supramolecular hydrogels not only possess pH-sensitivity, but also possess the ability to repair themselves after being damaged.