Structure and Properties of Functional Hydrogels (2nd Edition)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 3671

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Interests: hydrogels; polymer physics; soft materials; biodegradable materials
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Guest Editor
College of Material, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Interests: hydrogels; ionogels; polymer composites; stimuli-responsive polymers
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Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (WPI-ICReDD), Hokkaido University, Sapporo 001-0021, Japan
Interests: polymer gel; functional material; fracture mechanics
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Guest Editor
State Key Lab for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Interests: gels; soft materials; mechanical properties; soft electronics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is dedicated to developing new functional hydrogels with unique properties, original designs and a hierarchical structure.

Hydrogels, composed of a three-dimensional, cross-linked polymer network and an abundance of water, are representative soft and wet materials. The soft and wet nature of hydrogels has already allowed them to find broad applications in various fields, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, soft actuators, and flexible electronics. However, conventional hydrogels are mechanically brittle and weak, which severely limits their scope of applications. In the past two decades, a significant volume of research has reported the successful preparation of mechanically strong and tough hydrogels via the design of structures with sacrificial bonds; that is, the sacrificial bonds can break preferentially during deformation to dissipate energy, endowing the material with high toughness. Led by these pioneering studies, attempts have been further made to construct novel structures in hydrogels, and subsequently, various hydrogels with special properties (e.g., anti-fracture, self-healing, adhesive, anti-fatigue, and anti-freezing) have gradually emerged, thus greatly enriching the application prospects of hydrogels.

The properties of hydrogels are highly dependent on their structures. Interestingly, functional hydrogels usually possess exquisite hierarchical structures at different scales, for example, at the nano-, micro-, meso-, and macro-scale. Understanding the structure–property relationship in hydrogels is vital for their functions and applications. Hence, within this topic, we aim to share state-of-the-art advances in the development of functional hydrogels with excellent properties with a hierarchically structural design and expect to provide a powerful paradigm for developing novel functional hydrogels. We sincerely welcome submissions in this exciting field and look forward to presenting these new works.

Dr. Chengtao Yu
Dr. Xiaohua Chang
Dr. Yong Zheng
Prof. Dr. Jian Hu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • functional hydrogels
  • hierarchical structure
  • multiscale structure
  • structure–property relationship
  • mechanical property

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 4182 KiB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of Hydrogel Adsorption/Desorption with and without Surfactants
by Salam Abdulla Dhahir, Auda Jabbar Braihi and Salih Abbas Habeeb
Gels 2024, 10(4), 251; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10040251 - 8 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2086
Abstract
In this particular study, a hydrogel known as SAP-1 was synthesized through the grafting of acrylic acid-co-acrylamide onto pullulan, resulting in the creation of Pul-g-Poly (acrylic acid-co-acrylamide). Additionally, a sponge hydrogel named SAP-2 was prepared by incorporating the surfactant sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate [...] Read more.
In this particular study, a hydrogel known as SAP-1 was synthesized through the grafting of acrylic acid-co-acrylamide onto pullulan, resulting in the creation of Pul-g-Poly (acrylic acid-co-acrylamide). Additionally, a sponge hydrogel named SAP-2 was prepared by incorporating the surfactant sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) into the hydrogel through free radical solution polymerization. To gain further insight into the composition and properties of the hydrogels, various techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), atomic absorption spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), were employed. Conversely, the absorption kinetics and the equilibrium capacities of the prepared hydrogels were investigated and analyzed. The outcomes of the investigation indicated that each of the synthesized hydrogels exhibited considerable efficacy as adsorbents for cadmium (II), copper (II), and nickel (II) ions. In particular, SAP-2 gel displayed a remarkable cadmium (II) ion absorption ability, with a rate of 190.72 mg/g. Following closely, SAP-1 gel demonstrated the ability to absorb cadmium (II) ions at a rate of 146.9 mg/g and copper (II) ions at a rate of 154 mg/g. Notably, SAP-2 hydrogel demonstrated the ability to repeat the adsorption–desorption cycles three times for cadmium (II) ions, resulting in absorption capacities of 190.72 mg/g, 100.43 mg/g, and 19.64 mg/g for the first, second, and third cycles, respectively. Thus, based on the abovementioned results, it can be concluded that all the synthesized hydrogels possess promising potential as suitable candidates for the adsorption and desorption of cadmium (II), copper (II), and nickel (II) ions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Functional Hydrogels (2nd Edition))
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Review

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37 pages, 4913 KiB  
Review
A Review on the Rheological Properties of Single Amino Acids and Short Dipeptide Gels
by Sérgio R. S. Veloso, Mariangela Rosa, Carlo Diaferia and Célio Fernandes
Gels 2024, 10(8), 507; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10080507 - 1 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Self-assembled peptide-based hydrogels have attracted considerable interest from the research community. Particularly, low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) consisting of amino acids and short peptides are highly suitable for biological applications owing to their facile synthesis and scalability, as well as their biocompatibility, biodegradability, [...] Read more.
Self-assembled peptide-based hydrogels have attracted considerable interest from the research community. Particularly, low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) consisting of amino acids and short peptides are highly suitable for biological applications owing to their facile synthesis and scalability, as well as their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and stability in physiological conditions. However, challenges in understanding the structure–property relationship and lack of design rules hinder the development of new gelators with the required properties for several applications. Hereby, in the plethora of peptide-based gelators, this review discusses the mechanical properties of single amino acid and dipeptide-based hydrogels. A mutual analysis of these systems allows us to highlight the relationship between the gel mechanical properties and amino acid sequence, preparation methods, or N capping groups. Additionally, recent advancements in the tuning of the gels’ rheological properties are reviewed. In this way, the present review aims to help bridge the knowledge gap between structure and mechanical properties, easing the selection or design of peptides with the required properties for biological applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Functional Hydrogels (2nd Edition))
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