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Modified-Release Drug Delivery Systems: Stimuli-Activated

Stimuli-activated drug delivery systems are designed to release drugs in response to specific physical, chemical, or biological stimuli. These systems often utilize hydrogels—three-dimensional, hydrophilic polymer networks capable of swelling in aqueous environments and retaining significant fluid volumes. Upon exposure to particular stimuli, these hydrogels undergo structural transitions that allow the embedded drug to be released. Due to this adaptive behavior, such systems are also called...

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Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning
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Super Stretchable and Compressible Hydrogels Inspired by Hook-and-Loop Fasteners.

Fuchuan Ding1,2,3, Hao Ding2,3, Zhiqiang Shen4

  • 1College of Chemistry and Materials Science & Fujian Key Laboratory of Polymer Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China.

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Inspired by hook-and-loop fasteners, researchers developed a novel hydrogel. This advanced material exhibits exceptional stretchability and durability, showing promise for biomedical applications like artificial cartilage.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Biomaterials Engineering
  • Nanotechnology

Background:

  • Hydrogels are versatile biomaterials with broad applications.
  • Developing hydrogels with enhanced mechanical properties and durability remains a challenge.
  • Biomimetic designs offer a promising avenue for advanced material development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To design and synthesize a novel hydrogel inspired by hook-and-loop fasteners.
  • To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the hydrogel's mechanical properties.
  • To evaluate the hydrogel's potential for biomedical applications, particularly as artificial articular cartilage.

Main Methods:

  • Design of a hydrogel network incorporating α-zirconium phosphate (ZrP) nanosheets and polymer chains with amine functional groups.
  • Multiscale molecular simulations to confirm the role of hydroxyl and amine groups in reversible interactions.
  • Experimental synthesis and mechanical testing of the hydrogel, including stretchability, compression resilience, and cyclic loading in a synovial fluid mimic.

Main Results:

  • The synthesized hydrogel demonstrated superior stretchability (>2100% strain) and resilience to compression (>90% strain).
  • Molecular simulations confirmed that hydroxyl groups on ZrP nanosheets and amine groups on polymer chains act as nano "hooks" and "loops," respectively, enabling energy dissipation.
  • The hydrogel sustained over 5000 cycles of compression with torsion in a synovial fluid-mimicking solution, indicating remarkable durability.

Conclusions:

  • A novel hydrogel with hook-and-loop inspired interactions was successfully designed and synthesized.
  • The material exhibits exceptional mechanical properties, including high stretchability, resilience, and durability.
  • The findings suggest significant potential for this hydrogel in biomedical applications, such as artificial articular cartilage, and offer a generalizable model for designing advanced materials.