Gelatin-based materials with inverse structures: Porous hydrogels compared to hydrogel particles

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Materials Engineering

Background:

• Designing hydrogels with controlled macroscopic structures is crucial for applications like drug delivery.
• Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels offer tunable properties but require precise synthesis methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize two distinct GelMA hydrogel architectures—porous hydrogels and hydrogel particles—with inverse macroscopic structures but similar network characteristics.
• To establish a foundation for understanding and utilizing these hydrogels in drug sorption and release applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized microfluidic-based liquid foam and droplet templating to generate hydrogel structures.
• Developed specialized GelMA (GM10) formulations for low viscosity and high crosslinking efficiency.
• Employed X-ray microtomography to analyze macroscopic structures and characterized network similarity via equilibrium degree of swelling (EDS) tests.
• Conducted cytotoxicity assays to confirm material biocompatibility.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized monodisperse porous hydrogels and hydrogel particles with inverse macroscopic structures, where node size equals particle diameter.
• Achieved similar surface-to-volume ratios and hydrogel network structures (confirmed by EDS) between the two material types.
• Demonstrated the cytocompatibility of both synthesized hydrogel materials.

Conclusions:

• Established a method for creating GelMA hydrogels with tunable macroscopic structures and consistent network properties.
• The findings provide a basis for future investigations into the drug sorption and release capabilities of these hydrogel materials.