A dynamic and self-crosslinked polysaccharide hydrogel with autonomous self-healing ability. Issue 20 (2nd April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ding, Fuyuan; Wu, Shuping; Wang, Shishuai; Xiong, Yuan; Li, Yan; Li, Bin; Deng, Hongbing; Du, Yumin; Xiao, Ling; Shi, Xiaowen
• Is Part Of: Soft matter. Volume 11:Issue 20(2015)
• Page Start: 3971
• Page End: 3976
• Publication Date: 2015-04-02
• Subjects: Soft condensed matter -- Periodicals; 530.413
• DOI: 10.1039/c5sm00587f
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-683X

Abstract

Abstract : Polysaccharide hydrogel derived from chitin and alginate can autonomously self-heal. Abstract : Natural polymeric hydrogels with self-healing capability that can recover the functionalities and structures of gels after damage are extremely attractive due to their emerging applications in the biomedical field. Here we report a self-healable polymeric hydrogel by self-crosslinking two natural polymers acrylamide-modified chitin (AMC) containing amino groups and oxidized alginate containing dialdehyde groups. The generation of the self-crosslinked hydrogel relies on the dynamic covalent linkage through Schiff base between the polysaccharide chains. The self-healing capability of the crosslinked hydrogel depends on the molar ratio of AMC and oxidized alginate and the surrounding pH. Under certain circumstances, the damaged hydrogel shows a complete recovery and can be stretched to a favorable extent, which is seldom observed for polysaccharide self-healing hydrogel. Notably, we find that the self-healing ability can be "stored" by freeze-drying and "activated" by rehydration. In addition, we demonstrate that the hydrogel can be used as a soft template to guide the repair of inorganic materials like hydroxyapatite. We anticipate that this self-healable hydrogel consisting of biocompatible and biodegradable polysaccharides can be applied to various biomedical fields.