Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials , Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029 , P. R. China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Aug 8;10(31):26046-26055. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b08874. Epub 2018 Jul 25.
Smart materials that can respond to multistimuli have been broadly studied. However, the smart materials that can spontaneously answer the ever-changing inner environment of living bodies have not been reported. Here, we report a strategy based on the dynamic chemistry to develop possible self-adapting solid materials that can automatically change shape without external stimuli, as organisms do. The self-adapting property of a chitosan-based self-healing hydrogel has been rediscovered since its dynamic Schiff-base network confers the unique mobility to that solid gel. As a result, the hydrogel can move slowly, like an octopus climbing through a narrow channel, only following the natural forces of surface tension and gravity. The fascinating self-adapting feature enables this hydrogel as an excellent drug carrier for the in vivo wound treatment. In a healing process of the rat-liver laceration, this self-adapting hydrogel demonstrated remarkable superiority over traditional drug delivery methods, suggesting the great potential of this self-adapting hydrogel as a promising new material for biomedical applications. We believe the current research revealed a possible strategy to achieve self-adapting materials and may pave the way toward the further development, study, and application of new-generation smart materials.
智能材料能够对外界多种刺激做出响应，已经得到了广泛的研究。然而，能够自发响应活体内部不断变化的内环境的智能材料尚未见报道。在这里，我们基于动态化学策略，开发了一种可能的自适应固体材料，该材料无需外部刺激即可自动改变形状，就像生物体一样。壳聚糖基自修复水凝胶的自适应特性已经被重新发现，因为其动态希夫碱网络赋予了该固体凝胶独特的流动性。结果，水凝胶可以像章鱼穿过狭窄的通道一样缓慢移动，只需遵循表面张力和重力的自然力。这种引人入胜的自适应特性使该水凝胶成为体内伤口治疗的优秀药物载体。在大鼠肝裂伤的愈合过程中，这种自适应水凝胶在性能上明显优于传统的药物输送方法，这表明这种自适应水凝胶作为一种有前途的生物医学应用新材料具有巨大的潜力。我们相信，目前的研究揭示了一种实现自适应材料的可能策略，并可能为新一代智能材料的进一步开发、研究和应用铺平道路。
