Research Center for Nano-Biomaterials & Regenerative Medicine, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, PR China.
Shanxi-Zheda Institute of Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan, PR China.
J Biomater Sci Polym Ed. 2023 Feb;34(2):243-257. doi: 10.1080/09205063.2022.2115759. Epub 2022 Aug 29.
Hydrogels are widely used in biomedical engineering, which often require matched mechanical properties to meet specific demands. Recently, numerous research studies have contributed to tissue engineering hydrogels by soaking strategies to obtain designed properties. Herein, a strategy to fabricate poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(acrylic acid)-ammonium sulfate (PVA/PAA-AS) hydrogel by successively soaking an aqueous PAA solution and (NH)SO solution based on the synergy of multiple hydrogen bonding and Hofmeister effect is reported, which exhibits remarkable comprehensive mechanical properties: rigidity (elastic modulus: 0.7-3.6 ), strength at break (tensile stress: 3.2-12.0 strain 320-650%), and toughness (fracture energy: 4.5-30.0 ). Besides, PVA/PAA-AS hydrogel with unique spring-like microstructure exhibited super-resilience in 30% strain range by energy-transforming mechanism. Compared with pure PVA hydrogel, PVA/PAA-AS hydrogel has the equal excellent cytocompatibility. Therefore, PVA/PAA-AS hydrogel with high strength, modulus, toughness, super-resilience and excellent biocompatibility has potential applications in the soft tissue engineering field such as muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
水凝胶在生物医学工程中得到了广泛的应用，通常需要具有匹配的机械性能来满足特定的需求。最近，许多研究通过浸泡策略为组织工程水凝胶做出了贡献，以获得设计的性能。本文报道了一种通过协同多重氢键和侯氏效应，利用连续浸泡 PAA 水溶液和(NH4)2SO4 溶液来制备 PVA/PAA-AS 水凝胶的策略，该水凝胶具有显著的综合机械性能：刚性（弹性模量：0.7-3.6 MPa）、断裂强度（拉伸应力：3.2-12.0 MPa，应变 320-650%）和韧性（断裂能：4.5-30.0 J/m2）。此外，具有独特的弹簧状微观结构的 PVA/PAA-AS 水凝胶通过能量转换机制在 30%应变范围内表现出超弹性。与纯 PVA 水凝胶相比，PVA/PAA-AS 水凝胶具有同等优异的细胞相容性。因此，具有高强度、模量、韧性、超弹性和优异生物相容性的 PVA/PAA-AS 水凝胶在肌肉、肌腱和韧带等软组织工程领域具有潜在的应用前景。
