Functional hyaluronic acid hydrogels prepared by a novel method

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a crucial biopolymer with significant biomedical potential.
• Developing functional hydrogels with tunable properties is essential for advanced applications.
• Existing methods for HA hydrogel synthesis can be complex or lack specific functionalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, simple method for synthesizing functional hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels.
• To incorporate both hydrazone and disulfide bonds within the crossbridges of HA hydrogels.
• To characterize the structural, mechanical, and degradation properties of the synthesized HA hydrogels.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized HA hydrogels via direct reaction of 2,5-hexanedione and 3,3'-dithiodipropionate hydrazide-modified HA.
• Characterized hydrogel formation using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).
• Analyzed morphology with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), thermal stability with Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and mechanical properties through compression tests.

Main Results:

• Confirmed HA hydrogel formation through ketone-hydrazide group reactions.
• Observed a porous morphology with pore sizes ranging from 50 μm to 400 μm.
• Achieved a compressive modulus of 18.8±0.6 kPa and a G″/G' ratio of 0.002.
• Demonstrated that increased crosslinking decreased swelling and degradation ratios, with minimal impact on decomposition temperature.

Conclusions:

• The presented method is a feasible approach for creating HA hydrogels via hydrazone bond crosslinking.
• The synthesized HA hydrogels possess tunable properties and a porous structure.
• These functional HA hydrogels hold significant potential for diverse biomedical applications.