One-pot preparation of double network hydrogels via enzyme-mediated polymerization and post-self-assembly for wound
Qingcong Wei1, Yuqing Chang, Guanglei Ma
1Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Province for Green Manufacturing of Fine Chemicals, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Media and Reactions, Ministry of Education, Henan Engineering Laboratory of Chemical Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, Henan 453007, P. R. China. qcwei@htu.edu.cn zghu@htu.cn.
Abstract:
Hybrid hydrogels combining polymers and low-molecular-weight gelators (LMWGs) are promising soft materials. Self-assembled LMWG-based supramolecular networks via noncovalent interactions exhibit excellent reversible thixotropy, which are usually incorporated into polymer gel networks generating functional double network hybrid hydrogels. In this study, we used enzyme-mediated polymerization and post-self-assembly for the one-pot preparation of LMWG-based hybrid hydrogels which consist of a covalently cross-linked polyacrylamide as the first chemical network and post-self-assembled DBS-COOH as the second supramolecular network. The gelation processes are monitored by the EPR measurement and 1H NMR characterization. The DBS-COOH gel network endows the hybrid gel with a well-controlled release behaviour of an anti-inflammatory drug-diclofenac sodium (DCF). Further in vivo wound healing experiments elucidated that the hybrid gel is a promising candidate material for biomedical applications. The enzymatic one-pot preparation principle will provide a unique viewpoint for fabricating functional LMWG/polymer hybrid hydrogels.
