Multicolor, injectable BSA-based lanthanide luminescent hydrogels with biodegradability.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomaterials Engineering
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Protein hydrogels offer biodegradability and biocompatibility but often lack structural and functional diversity.
• Multifunctional protein luminescent hydrogels integrate luminescent materials with biomaterials for expanded applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, multicolor tunable, injectable, and biodegradable protein-based lanthanide luminescent hydrogel.
• To create a hydrogel with dual crosslinked networks using protein denaturation and lanthanide complexation.

Main Methods:

• Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was denatured with urea to expose disulfide bonds, then reduced with tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP) to generate free thiols.
• A dual crosslinking strategy was employed: disulfide bond rearrangement within BSA and reaction between remaining thiols and lanthanide complexes (Ln(4-VDPA)3).
• Rheological properties, structure, luminescence, injectability, and biodegradability of the hydrogels were systematically investigated.

Main Results:

• A novel protein-based lanthanide luminescent hydrogel with tunable multicolor emission was successfully fabricated.
• The hydrogel exhibited a dual crosslinked network structure, confirmed through rheological and structural analyses.
• The material demonstrated excellent injectability and biodegradability, with detailed luminescent performance characterization.

Conclusions:

• This work presents a feasible strategy for designing and fabricating multifunctional protein luminescent hydrogels.
• The developed hydrogel avoids environmentally harmful photoinitiators and free radical initiators.
• The findings suggest potential applications in biomedicine, optoelectronics, and information technology.