Virdi Charenpreet, Lu Zufu, Zreiqat Hala, No Young Jung
School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Sydney, Darlington, NSW 2006, Australia.
J Funct Biomater. 2023 May 24;14(6):291. doi: 10.3390/jfb14060291.
Engineering synthetic hydrogels for the repair and augmentation of load-bearing soft tissues with simultaneously high-water content and mechanical strength is a long-standing challenge. Prior formulations to enhance the strength have involved using chemical crosslinkers where residues remain a risk for implantation or complex processes such as freeze-casting and self-assembly, requiring specialised equipment and technical expertise to manufacture reliably. In this study, we report for the first time that the tensile strength of high-water content (>60 wt.%), biocompatible polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels can exceed 1.0 MPa through a combination of facile manufacturing strategies via physical crosslinking, mechanical drawing, post-fabrication freeze drying, and deliberate hierarchical design. It is anticipated that the findings in this paper can also be used in conjunction with other strategies to enhance the mechanical properties of hydrogel platforms in the design and construction of synthetic grafts for load-bearing soft tissues.
设计具有高含水量和机械强度的合成水凝胶用于修复和增强承重软组织是一项长期挑战。先前增强强度的配方涉及使用化学交联剂，其中残留的化学物质仍存在植入风险，或者采用诸如冷冻铸造和自组装等复杂工艺，这些工艺需要专门的设备和技术专长才能可靠制造。在本研究中，我们首次报告，通过物理交联、机械拉伸、制造后冷冻干燥和精心设计的分级结构等简便制造策略相结合，高含水量（>60 wt.%）、生物相容性聚乙烯醇水凝胶的拉伸强度可以超过1.0 MPa。预计本文的研究结果也可与其他策略结合使用，以增强水凝胶平台的机械性能，用于设计和构建承重软组织的合成移植物。
