Highly Resilient Noncovalently Associated Hydrogel Adhesives for Wound Sealing Patch

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Tissue Engineering

Background:

• Developing hydrogel adhesives with high mechanical resilience and toughness is challenging.
• Existing hydrogels often show a negative correlation between tissue adhesion, toughness, and mechanical resilience.
• These properties are crucial for effective wound sealing and repair in dynamic biological environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel, highly resilient double-network (DN) hydrogel wound-sealing patch.
• To achieve a balanced combination of wet tissue adhesion, toughness, and mechanical resilience.
• To demonstrate the potential of this hydrogel for promoting wound healing.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a double-network (DN) hydrogel.
• Incorporation of covalently and non-covalently crosslinkable dopamine-modified crosslinkers.
• Inclusion of physically interactable linear poly(vinyl imidazole) (PVI) for reversible physical crosslinking.

Main Results:

• The DN hydrogel exhibited a well-balanced combination of tissue adhesion, toughness, and mechanical resilience.
• High toughness and mechanical resilience were attributed to reversible physical intermolecular interactions within the DN structure.
• Strong wet tissue adhesion was achieved via polar hydroxyl groups of dopamine and the amine group of PVI.

Conclusions:

• The developed DN hydrogel adhesive effectively seals damaged tissues.
• The hydrogel's mechanical properties support its application in wound healing.
• Maintaining a moist wound environment is facilitated by the hydrogel, promoting healing.