ACS Applied Polymer Materials
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2025
·
IF 4.7
Xueliang Feng,Jie-Wei Wong,Mingjin Yang,Qing Zhang,Xiaoxue Liao,Daquan Kek,Zhenzhong Liu,Jize Liu,Chunxin Ma,Qingrong Wei,Tuck-Whye Wong
Intelligent hydrogels can provide various biomimetic actuations in response to external stimuli, but it is still difficult to program their actuating complexity, which severely limits their further applications. Herein, a stimuli-responsive actuating bi-hydrogel with a directional negative layer and a homogeneous positive layer has been explored. The stretched natural rubber latex–polyacrylamide (NRL-PAAm) hydrogel layer can partly maintain this directional structure, which can further integrate with the photothermal-responsive graphene-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (G-PNIPAM) hydrogel layer to obtain the anisotropic bilayer hydrogel. First of all, different from bilayer PNIPAM-based hydrogels, which commonly only achieve two-dimensional (2D) complex actuations, this bi-hydrogel can achieve various not only 2D but also three-dimensional (3D) complex programmable actuations, especially because of its double anisotropy of both bilayer and directional structures. Furthermore, this bi-hydrogel can own a rapid actuating speed reaching 27.7°/s of bending and 18.0°/s of folding in response to non-contact near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, mainly owing to the high photothermal conversion efficiency of composited graphene. Last but not least, thanks to the highly enhanced mechanical performance of the directional NRL-PAAm hydrogel layer, this bi-hydrogel is robust, reaching 4.0 times the tensile strength of pure G-PNIPAM, which owns a relatively powerful force to lift more than 50 times its self-weight. This work provides a promising intelligent hydrogel integrating programmable 2D/3D complex actuation, rapid actuating speed, and powerful force, which will also inspire exploration of other soft intelligent materials.
研究领域:
高分子材料学
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生物医学工程
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软体机器人
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智能响应材料
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组织工程
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纳米复合材料
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仿生驱动器
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DOI
高影响因子
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
·
2025
·
IF 8.5
Yanan Gao,Xue Hu,Haiying Zhang,Simin Chen,Jiaqi Yu,Deqiao Dong,Haihe Zhan,Bingmiao Gao,Dingguo Li,Zhenmiao Qin,Yan Liu
Myocardial infarction (MI) is a critical heart disease with a high mortality rate, posing a serious risk to human health. Injectable hydrogels possess considerable therapeutic promise for managing MI through the application of tissue-engineered scaffolds for cell delivery. However, the oxidative stress microenvironment of MI lesions leads to low cell retention and survival. In this study, a thermo-sensitive resveratrol micelles (RES-M) loaded chitosan hydrogel (RM-CH) was developed against oxidative stress injury in cardiomyocytes (CMs). RM-CH had better scavenging ability against DPPH and ABTS radicals compared to industry-standard ascorbic acid. RM-CH had good biodegradability, histocompatibility and cytocompatibility. The injection process of the hydrogel did not cause cell injury. DHE and DCFH-DA staining showed that it can improve the survival of CMs by fighting against the oxidative stress microenvironment. Live/Dead staining of CMs in hydrogels showed that the addition of RES-M could rescue cell survival under oxidative stress. Hence, this work highlights the potential clinical applications of RM-CH which may present an ideal scaffold material for injectable cardiac tissue engineering.
研究领域:
生物材料
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心血管医学
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药学
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纳米技术
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组织工程
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DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Journal of Materials Chemistry B
·
2025
·
IF 5.7
Ying Guo,Bei Tian,Yi Xie,Jianxi Xiao
Prolonged ultraviolet (UV) exposure leads to photoaging characterized by collagen degradation, oxidative stress, and impaired skin barrier function. Injectable hydrogels offer a minimally invasive strategy for dermal repair, but conventional materials often rely on chemical crosslinkers, raising concerns over biosafety and long-term biocompatibility. Herein, we develop a physically crosslinked agarose–hyaluronic acid (Aga–HA) composite hydrogel derived from marine-sourced Gelidium agarose and optimized with 0.5% HA. The resulting Aga–0.5% HA hydrogel exhibits shear-thinning behavior, enhanced injectability, low swelling, and improved acid resistance without chemical modification. Spectroscopic and thermal analyses reveal that HA incorporation disrupts agarose double-helix packing via hydrogen bonding, forming a flexible and porous network. In vitro, the hydrogel promotes human dermal fibroblast proliferation and displays excellent cytocompatibility. In vivo, it demonstrates non-pyrogenic and non-hemolytic behavior, enhances tissue hydration, and accelerates regeneration in zebrafish and murine photoaging models. Importantly, Aga–0.5% HA restores dermal density, improves collagen deposition, reduces inflammation, and attenuates oxidative stress. This biocompatible, chemically crosslinker-free hydrogel offers a safe and effective injectable platform for treating photoaged skin and regenerating soft tissue.
研究领域:
生物材料
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皮肤科学
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组织工程
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再生医学
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药剂学
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高分子科学
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炎症生物学
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2024
·
IF 13.3
Wenpeng Hong,Lei Kang,Yinzhen Li,Wei Yan,Jingrui Lan,Yuan Chang,Haoran Li
Hygroscopic salt composite hydrogels (HSCHs) offer a promising solution for combating global water scarcity by harvesting atmospheric water. Importantly, this is aided by an interior water gradient that facilitates ion transport, which opens up opportunities for power generation. The current and potential outputs are restricted by inadequate water collection and excessive cross-link density. Herein, a novel zwitterionic nanocomposite conductive hydrogel (ZNCH) is introduced to resist polyelectrolyte changes by leveraging the salt-in effect of cationic and anionic functional groups. The poly-[2-(methacryloxy)ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide-based ZNCH endows the HSCH with an enhanced swelling property together with an improved water storage capacity. The adsorption capacity of water reaches 3.0 g g −1 after 10 h of operation at 25 °C and 90% RH. More importantly, ZNCH replaces H bonds with Li bonds under the Hofmeister effect, resulting in the generation of a substantial number of free H + ions. These endow the ZNCH with highly efficient power generation performance, associating with a short-circuit current of up to 945 μA, a current density of 945 μA cm −1 , and an open-circuit voltage of 0.802 V. This work motivates the improvement of materials and devices that convert energy from atmospheric water.
研究领域:
材料科学
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能源技术
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环境科学
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
POLYMER TESTING
·
2024
·
IF 5
Yuet Cheng,Zheng Pan,Yuntao Lin,Yuling Chen,Xiaolian Li,Hongyu Yang,Yuehong Shen
Artificial materials for the potential treatment of bone defects are very trendy in such research fields. To investigate a hydrogel scaffold with better mechanical strength and osteoinductivity is always a challenge since brittle and soft properties are always the problems in traditional hydrogels. In our study, a novel gelatin/chitosan hydrogel crosslinked by a double network filled with lignin and calcium silicate is fabricated. Enhancements of mechanical strength, low swelling ratio, and improvement in osteoinductivity were achieved in this composite double network hydrogels. The results revealed that lignin was a key factor in raising the compressive strength and stability of the hydrogel because more hydrogen bonds were formed between lignin and the crosslinking network. Even after swelling equilibrium, the compressive strength remained almost unchanged. In addition, the hydrogel groups with a higher ratio of lignin also had lower cytotoxicity and improved osteoinductivity of pre-osteoblasts while the increasing concentration of calcium silicate progressively weakened these performances. Therefore, the gelatin/chitosan double network hydrogel reinforced by lignin would be a potential bone tissue-engineered artificial material.
研究领域:
材料科学
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生物医学工程
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组织工程
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Polymers
·
2023
·Vol. 15
·期 3
·786
·
IF 5
Shijun Long,Jiacheng Huang,Jiaqiang Xiong,Chang Liu,Fan Chen,Jie Shen,Yiwan Huang,Xuefeng Li
Stimuli-responsive hydrogel actuators have attracted tremendous interest in switches and microrobots. Based onN-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) monomers with LCST phase separation and photochromic molecule spiropyran which can respond to ultraviolet light and H+, we develop a novel multistimuli-responsive co-polymer anisotropic bilayer hydrogel, which can undergo complex deformation behavior under environmental stimuli. Diverse bending angles were achieved based on inhomogeneous swelling. By controlling the environmental temperature, the bilayer hydrogels achieved bending angles of 83.4° and −162.4° below and above the critical temperature of PNIPAM. Stimulated by ultraviolet light and H+, the bilayer hydrogels showed bending angles of −19.4° and −17.3°, respectively. In addition, we designed a strategy to enhance the mechanical properties of the hydrogel via double network (DN). The mechanical properties and microscopic Fourier transform infrared (micro-FTIR) spectrum showed that the bilayer hydrogel can be well bonded at the interfaces of such bilayers. This work will inspire the design and fabrication of novel soft actuators with synergistic functions.Keywords:anisotropic structure;photochromic hydrogels;poly(N-isopropylacrylamide);stimuli-responsive hydrogels;soft actuators
研究领域:
材料科学
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高分子化学
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软体机器人
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DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Small
·
2021
·Vol. 18
·期 5
·2104368
·
IF 13.281
Xin Yang,Changqing Zhang,Dawei Deng,Yueqing Gu,Huan Wang,Qifeng Zhong
Chronic wound healing is an important and basic issue in medical and healthcare fields. Recently, stimuli-responsive hydrogel systems have emerged as promising drug delivery carriers for wound management. However, given to the limited therapeutic outcomes, new hydrogel systems for efficient wound treatment are urgently needed. Here, the development of a 2D MXene-based hydrogel system for highly efficient photo- and magnetic-responsive drug delivery oriented to deep chronic wounds repair is presented. The intelligent responsive MXene-based hydrogel drug delivery system is composed of MXene-wrapped magnetic colloids and poly( N -isopropyl acrylamide)-alginate dual-network hydrogels. It is demonstrated that the MXene-based hydrogel system exhibits multiple response capability and controllable drug delivery ability, which can reduce the toxic side effects of drugs and promote the wound healing process as well. Notably, the practical performance of the MXene-based hydrogel drug delivery system is demonstrated by applying it to the treatment of the full-thickness cutaneous wound and subcutaneous infected wound of the rat model, which indicates the great prospect in clinical wound healing and other related biomedical fields.
研究领域:
材料科学
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生物医学工程
·
药学
·
伤口愈合
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Soft Matter
·
2021
·Vol. 17
·期 35
·8059-8067
·
IF 3.679
Jingda Tang,Liangsong Zeng,Zishun Liu
Magnetic hydrogels have found a myriad of applications in bioengineering and soft robotics. As the function of magnetic hydrogels is affected by the distribution of magnetic nanoparticles, it is imperative to propose a strategy for fabricating patterned magnetic hydrogels. However, previous strategies can only achieve very simple distribution by using external magnetic fields to guide the chain-like assembly of nanoparticles. It remains challenging to realize the complex distribution of magnetic nanoparticles in a hydrogel. Here we propose an ion transfer printing strategy to prepare patterned magnetic hydrogels, taking advantage of the ion permeation and nanoparticle precipitation in the hydrogel. The polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogel is loaded with Fe2+/Fe3+ ions and covered with a patterned filter paper with OH− ions to generate Fe3O4 nanoparticles locally. The effect of the ion concentration and covering time on the generation of nanoparticles is investigated by using a reaction–diffusion model. Furthermore, the magnetothermal response of the patterned magnetic hydrogels has been characterized to reveal the distribution and thermogenesis of magnetic nanoparticles. We hope that the fabricated magnetic hydrogels with complex patterns can open up new opportunities for applications.
研究领域:
生物工程
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软体机器人
·
材料科学
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
EcoMat
·
2023
·
IF 14.6
Jingjie Shen,Chenhui Yang,Yanli Ma,Mengnan Cao,Zifa Gao,Shuo Wang,Jian Li,Shouxin Liu,Zhijun Chen,Shujun Li
Photothermal devices and thermoelectric cells hold great promise for energy generation but integration of the two remains a considerable challenge in real-life power supply for sensors. Here, a novel photo-thermo-electric hydrogel (PTEH-Interlocking) was constructed by the synthesis of a photothermal layer on a thermoelectric hydrogel with the redox pair Fe(CN) 6 3− /Fe(CN) 6 4− . The smart design of using the oxidation of pyrogallic acid by Fe(CN) 6 3− to construct the photothermal layer for photo-to-heat conversion protected the redox couple of the thermogalvanic ion pair from ultraviolet damage, as well as triggered the formation of an interlocking structure at the interface of the photothermal layer and the thermoelectric hydrogel. The as-prepared PTEH-Interlocking has shown a high Seebeck coefficient and rapid heat transfer, boosting the photo-thermo-electric conversion. As a demonstration of a practical application, the PTEH-Interlocking cells are successfully used as the energy supply for a mechanical sensor.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
能量转换
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纳米技术
·
传感器
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2024
·
IF 8.3
Chunning Xu,Ruobing Huang,Meizhe Yu,Shiyin Zhang,Yanglei Wang,Xueli Chen,Zhimin Hu,Yiran Wang,Xiaodong Xing
Adhesive hydrogels, playing an essential role in stretchable electronics, soft robotics, tissue engineering, and so forth, upon functioning often need to adhere to various substrates in wet conditions and simultaneously exhibit antibacterial/antioxidant properties while possessing the intrinsic stretchability and elasticity of the hydrogel network intact. Therefore, simple approaches to conveniently access adhesive hydrogels with multifunctional surfaces are being pursued. Herein, a facile strategy has been proposed to construct multifunctional adhesive hydrogels via surface engineering of a multifunctional carbon dot (CD)-decorated polymeric thin layer by dynamic bond exchange. By this strategy, a double cross-linked network hydrogel of polyacrylamide (PAM) and oxidized dextran (ODA) was engineered with a unique dense layer over the Schiff base hydrogel matrix by aqueous solution immersion of PA-120, versatile CDs derived from tannic acid (TA) and ε-polylysine (PL). Without any additional agents, the PA-120 CDs with residual polyphenolic/catechol and amine moieties were incorporated into the surface structure of the hydrogel network by the combined action of the Schiff base and hydrogen bonds to form a dense surface layer that can exhibit high wet adhesive performance via the amine–polyphenol/catechol pair. The armor-like dense architecture also endowed hydrogels with considerably enhanced tensile/compression properties and excellent antioxidant/antibacterial abilities. Besides, the single-sided modified Janus hydrogel and completely surface-modified hydrogel can be flexibly developed through this approach. This strategy will provide new insights into the preparation and application of surface-modified hydrogels featuring multiple functions and tunable interfacial properties.
研究领域:
材料科学
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聚合物化学
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生物医学工程
·
表面工程
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
NEW JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
·
2025
·
IF 2.5
Jingjing Mu,Xi Wang,Jia Li,Hairong Yu,Xingbin Lv,Ting Liang,Changjing Cheng
Mercury ions (Hg2+) are highly toxic pollutants with severe environmental and health impacts, necessitating the development of rapid and cost-effective detection methods. Herein, we report a cysteamine-modified photonic crystal hydrogel (CPCH) sensor for visual detection of Hg2+. The CPCH was constructed by embedding superparamagnetic Fe3O4 colloidal photonic crystals into a poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) hydrogel matrix through UV-initiated polymerization under an external magnetic field, which aligned the colloidal arrays. The as-prepared hydrogel contained abundant carboxyl groups, which were subsequently activated by EDC/NHS chemistry and covalently coupled with cysteamine molecules via amide reactions, introducing a high density of thiol (–SH) groups. Based on the hard and soft acids and bases (HSAB) theory, these N, O, and S functional groups act as specific recognition sites capable of selectively coordinating with Hg2+ ions. This induces hydrogel contraction and reduces the interparticle spacing of Fe3O4 colloidal nanoparticles, thereby triggering a significant blueshift in diffraction and a distinct structural color transformation. Experimental results demonstrate that at pH = 5, increasing Hg2+ concentration from 0 to 2 mM progressively enhances the diffraction shift, with the maximum response (Δλmax = 162 nm) achieved at 1 mM. A good linear relationship was observed within the range of 0.01 to 0.5 mM. The limit of detection (LOD) was 6.9 µM. Moreover, the sensor exhibited a rapid response, reaching equilibrium within 5 min, accompanied by a change in structural color from orange-yellow to blue-purple. Additionally, the CPCH sensor demonstrates not only excellent selectivity but also favorable regenerability, enabling reuse up to five times without compromising detection performance. This facile and low-cost sensing platform provides a visually perceptible and highly selective method for Hg2+ detection, showing great promise for environmental monitoring and on-site analysis.
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DOI
高影响因子
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
·
2025
·
IF 8.5
YaoFa Lin,WanWan Shao,WeiLiang Miao,HaoNan Zhang,GuoQiao Zhang,WangSheng Song,ChenShen Chi,Mei Li,YingZhao Liu
The repair of peripheral nerve injuries remains a major challenge in the field of tissue engineering. Electrical signals play a crucial role in the process of nerve regeneration, making the development of biomimetic materials with excellent conductivity and biocompatibility highly significant for neural tissue repair. In this study, a three-dimensional network hydrogel CMOS was prepared based on marine polysaccharide carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) and oxidized alginate sodium (OSA), and its electrical conductivity was enhanced by doping different volume fractions (1 %, 3 %, 5 %) of conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS. This dual-component design synergistically combines the intrinsic bioactivity of marine polysaccharides with the electrical functionality of PEDOT:PSS, addressing two key limitations of conventional hydrogels: poor bioactivity and insufficient conductivity. The resulting conductive hydrogels exhibited good gelation capability and favorable swelling behavior. Electrochemical analyses confirmed that the incorporation of PEDOT:PSS significantly enhanced the electrical conductivity of the hydrogel. In vitro cell experiments demonstrated that the hydrogels were biocompatible with PC12 cells, with the 3 % PEDOT:PSS group (CMOS/P3) achieving an optimal balance between conductivity and cellular activity. Moreover, the hydrogel displayed excellent injectability and biodegradability. When injected into the site of sciatic nerve crush injury, CMOS/P3 promoted the expression of key neural regeneration markers NF200 and S100, and alleviated gastrocnemius muscle atrophy. In conclusion, this marine polysaccharide-based PEDOT:PSS conductive hydrogel provides a promising injectable biomimetic platform for peripheral nerve regeneration.
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PubMed
高影响因子
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