Synthesis and Characterization of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Organo/Hydrogels

Area of Science:

• Polymer Science
• Biomaterials Engineering
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Synthetic organogels and hydrogels are gaining traction for biomedical, electronic, and photovoltaic applications.
• Photogelation offers an efficient and straightforward method for synthesizing these materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize novel biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)-based organogels/hydrogels.
• To investigate the effect of cross-linking density on the hydrogels' properties.
• To assess the biocompatibility of the synthesized hydrogels.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of unsaturated PHA copolymer poly[(R)-3-hydroxyundecanoate-co-(R)-3-hydroxy-10-undecenoate] (PHU10U) using engineered *Pseudomonas entomophila*.
• UV photo-cross-linking of PHU10U with polyethylene glycol dithiol (PDT).
• Characterization using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H NMR, and 13C NMR.
• Evaluation of swelling ratio, pore size, compressive modulus, and cell cytotoxicity (CCK-8 assay).

Main Results:

• Decreased swelling ratio and pore size with reduced PHU10U to PDT molar ratio.
• Increased compressive modulus with higher gel network densities.
• PHA-based hydrogels demonstrated good biocompatibility in cytotoxicity studies.

Conclusions:

• Novel biodegradable PHA-based hydrogels were successfully synthesized via UV photogelation.
• Hydrogel properties like swelling, pore size, and mechanical strength are tunable by adjusting the cross-linking ratio.
• The synthesized hydrogels exhibit good biocompatibility, indicating their potential for biomedical applications.