Alginate based antimicrobial hydrogels formed by integrating Diels-Alder "click chemistry" and the thiol-ene reaction.

In recent years medical devices manufacturers have been looking for antimicrobial coatings which are biocompatible and non-toxic for a wide range of medical devices. The demand for these antimicrobial coatings has increased significantly, owing to the increased incidence of hospital-associated infections (HAIs). Hydrogels have been widely used in biomedical applications due to their hydrophilicity, biodegradability, non-toxicity and biocompatibility. In this work, sodium alginate (SA) based antibacterial hydrogels SA/PEG-HHC10 were designed and prepared by combining Diels-Alder (DA) click chemistry and the thiol-ene reaction. The hydrogels were first prepared using DA click chemistry with good mechanical strength, then the cysteine-terminated antimicrobial peptide HHC10-CYS (HHC10) was grafted into the hydrogel by the thiol-ene reaction between the oxy-norbornene group and the thiol group. The results showed that the antimicrobial hydrogels had a strong antibacterial property and good biocompatibility. Therefore, the antimicrobial hydrogels have significant potential application as coatings for implantable medical devices.