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Gels
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Functional Gel-Based Biomaterials for Medical Applications
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Functional Gel-Based Biomaterials for Medical Applications

A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1772

Editors

Dr. Xuefeng Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Life Sciences and Medical Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230009, China
Interests: dynamic hydrogel; drug delivery; 3D cell culture; tissue regeneration
Prof. Dr. Pengchao Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Guangzhou International Campus, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 511442, China
Interests: hydrogel; drug delivery; immunotherapy; regenerative medicine

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the field of medical materials, gel-based biomaterials have emerged as a prominent research focus, demonstrating significant potential in diverse medical applications such as drug and cell delivery, wound healing, and tissue engineering. Functional gel-based biomaterials integrate the unique physical and chemical properties of gels with purpose-driven designs tailored to specific clinical requirements, offering excellent biocompatibility and enabling effective interactions with biological systems. This Special Issue, “Functional Gel-Based Biomaterials for Medical Applications,” aims to provide a comprehensive overview of recent advances and technological innovations in this rapidly evolving field. We warmly invite researchers to submit original contributions, including original research and review articles. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) the design and synthesis of novel functional gel materials; (2) in-depth investigation into their interaction mechanisms with cells and tissues; and (3) translational studies exploring their clinical applications.

Dr. Xuefeng Yang
Prof. Dr. Pengchao Zhao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dynamic hydrogel
  • self-healing hydrogel
  • stimuli-responsive hydrogel
  • nanocomposite hydrogel
  • cryohydrogel
  • macroporous hydrogel
  • Janus hydrogel
  • dried-gels
  • hydrogel biosensor
  • drug delivery
  • cell culture
  • hemostasis
  • anti-bacteria
  • wound healing
  • tissue engineering
  • health monitoring
  • disease treatment

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

34 pages, 1548 KB  
Review
Hydrogel-Based Platforms for Wound Care: Integrated Strategies for Antimicrobial Delivery and Biofilm Management
by Gabriela Marcelina Mihai, Liviu Martin, Lucretiu Radu, Madalina Aldea, Sorin Nicolae Dinescu, Andrei Gresita, Mihai Ruscu, Ramona Constantina Vasile and Alexandra-Daniela Rotaru-Zavaleanu
Gels 2026, 12(5), 398; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels12050398 - 5 May 2026
Viewed by 1288
Abstract
Chronic wounds, diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure injuries affect millions of patients worldwide and cost healthcare systems in the order of $150 billion annually, yet treatment options have changed less than the scale of the problem would suggest. Biofilm formation, [...] Read more.
Chronic wounds, diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure injuries affect millions of patients worldwide and cost healthcare systems in the order of $150 billion annually, yet treatment options have changed less than the scale of the problem would suggest. Biofilm formation, documented in up to 78% of chronic wounds, is a central cause: bacteria embedded in extracellular polymeric matrices tolerate antimicrobial concentrations up to 1000-fold higher than planktonic cells and sustain a chronic inflammatory state that actively prevents tissue repair. Hydrogels, crosslinked polymer networks with high water content and tunable physicochemical properties, have been widely studied as platforms for addressing these challenges, though the distance between laboratory results and clinical practice remains considerable. While recent reviews have summarized hydrogel materials or antimicrobial strategies in isolation, this review takes a different approach: we treat infection, biofilm persistence, and impaired regeneration as interconnected processes that must be addressed simultaneously, and we examine biofilm management as a distinct therapeutic target rather than merely a subset of antimicrobial delivery. We analyze hydrogel-based wound care across three integrated domains: design principles (natural, synthetic, and hybrid polymer systems; crosslinking strategies; and stimuli-responsive architectures), antimicrobial delivery (silver, antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides, natural agents, and controlled-release systems), and biofilm management (nanoparticle-mediated disruption, enzymatic EPS degradation, photodynamic approaches, quorum-sensing inhibition, and anti-adhesive surface engineering). For each area, we critically evaluate what the preclinical evidence supports, where it falls short, and what would be needed to bridge the gap to clinical application. Translation remains uneven. Among the many FDA- and EMA-cleared hydrogel dressings currently in clinical use, most are simple moisture-retaining or silver-containing formulations, while the multifunctional systems that dominate the research literature are at earlier stages of development. We discuss the main translational priorities, including more predictive preclinical models, long-term nanomaterial safety, harmonized outcome reporting, manufacturing scalability, and health economic evidence, as areas where further work can meaningfully accelerate clinical adoption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Gel-Based Biomaterials for Medical Applications)
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