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Gels
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Novel Polymer-Based Smart Hydrogels: Design, Properties and Applications
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Novel Polymer-Based Smart Hydrogels: Design, Properties and Applications

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 2553

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ning Ma

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials (Ministry of Education), Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
2. State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
Interests: hydrogels; biomedical polymer; high polymer material and porcessing; anti flaming; anti-bacteria
Dr. Fang-Chang Tsai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials (Ministry of Education), Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
Interests: hydrogels; anti flaming; polymeric composites; carbon quantum dots; high polymer material and processing
Dr. Xue-Qing Zhan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials (Ministry of Education), Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
Interests: hydrogels; biomedical polymer; organic functional polymer; organic-inorganic hybrid materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogels have attracted much attention in various fields. Hydrogels are versatile polymer networks, which can be regulated by three-dimensional structure design and can thus be loaded with different aids and can greatly improve the physical properties.

Hydrogels have been used for different applications such as wound healing, tissue engineering, biosensors, etc. Several polymeric hydrogels provide a sustained-release drug platform, which is an emerging drug delivery system. By using biocompatible and biodegradable natural or synthetic materials as carriers, hydrogels can be chemically or physically bound to different payloads such as drugs, growth factors, etc., to create long-acting formulations for biomedical applications.

Herein, in this Special Issue entitled “Novel Polymer-Based Smart Hydrogels: Design, Properties and Applications”, we aim to discuss and illustrate the recent developments and future perspectives of hydrogels for biosensors, intelligent drivers, intelligent building materials, and smart biomedical material applications. Contributions based on the above applications and technologies are most welcome.

Dr. Ning Ma
Dr. Fang-Chang Tsai
Dr. Xue-Qing Zhan
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • hydrogel
  • structural design
  • mechanical sensor
  • temperature sensor
  • biosensor
  • intelligent driver
  • intelligent building materials
  • smart biomedical materials

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 5904 KiB  
Article
Gellan Gum-Based In Situ Hydrogels for Nasal Delivery of Polymeric Micelles Loaded with Risperidone
by Bence Sipos, Mária Budai-Szűcs, Gábor Katona and Ildikó Csóka
Gels 2025, 11(6), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11060404 - 28 May 2025
Viewed by 393
Abstract
Nasal drug delivery faces numerous challenges related to the ineffectiveness of most nasal formulations without a mucoadhesive nature, prolonging residence time on the nasal mucosa. Another challenge is the low administrable dosage strength, which can be solved via nano-encapsulation techniques, including the utilization [...] Read more.
Nasal drug delivery faces numerous challenges related to the ineffectiveness of most nasal formulations without a mucoadhesive nature, prolonging residence time on the nasal mucosa. Another challenge is the low administrable dosage strength, which can be solved via nano-encapsulation techniques, including the utilization of polymeric micelles. In this study, gellan gum–cellulose derivative complex in situ gelling matrices were formulated to test their effect on the colloidal characteristics of polymeric micelles, their respective rheological behavior, and nasal applicability. It has been proven that these complex matrices can form gels upon contact with nasal fluid without disrupting the micellar structure. Changes in the drug release and permeation profile have been shown in a concentration-dependent manner to hinder the burst-like drug release profile of polymeric micelles. Formulations show concentration- and composition-dependent mucoadhesive features under nasal conditions. Most of the hydrogels possess a soft gel characteristic, making them suitable for nasal administration. In conclusion, this descriptive study provides useful insights for conscious, nasal dosage form design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Polymer-Based Smart Hydrogels: Design, Properties and Applications)
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17 pages, 5073 KiB  
Article
Bio-Inspired Synthesis of Injectable, Self-Healing PAA-Zn-Silk Fibroin-MXene Hydrogel for Multifunctional Wearable Capacitive Strain Sensor
by Rongjie Wang, Boming Jin, Jiaxin Li, Jing Li, Jingjing Xie, Pengchao Zhang and Zhengyi Fu
Gels 2025, 11(5), 377; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11050377 - 21 May 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 726
Abstract
Conductive hydrogels have important application prospects in the field of wearable sensing, which can identify various biological signals for human motion monitoring. However, the preparation of flexible conductive hydrogels with high sensitivity and stability to achieve reliable signal recording remains a challenge. Herein, [...] Read more.
Conductive hydrogels have important application prospects in the field of wearable sensing, which can identify various biological signals for human motion monitoring. However, the preparation of flexible conductive hydrogels with high sensitivity and stability to achieve reliable signal recording remains a challenge. Herein, we prepared a conductive hydrogel by introducing conductive Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets into a dual network structure formed by Zn2+ crosslinked polyacrylic acid and silk fibroin for use as a wearable capacitive strain sensor. The prepared injectable hydrogel has a uniform porous structure and good flexibility, and the elongation at break can reach 1750%. A large number of ionic coordination bonds and hydrogen bond interactions make the hydrogel exhibit good structural stability and a fast self-healing property (30 s). In addition, the introduction of Ti3C2Tx MXene as a conductive medium in hydrogel improves the conductivity. Due to the high conductivity of 0.16 S/m, the capacitive strain sensor assembled from this hydrogel presents a high gauge factor of 1.78 over a wide strain range of 0–200%, a fast response time of 0.2 s, and good cycling stability. As a wearable sensor, the hydrogel can accurately monitor the activities of different joints in real-time. This work is expected to provide a new approach for wearable hydrogel electronic devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Polymer-Based Smart Hydrogels: Design, Properties and Applications)
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16 pages, 7979 KiB  
Article
Hydrate-Based Methane Storage in Biodegradable Hydrogels Absorbing Dilute Sodium P-Styrenesulfonate Solution
by Fangzheng Hua, Kang Tan, Jingyu Lv, Fei Wang and Mengting Sun
Gels 2025, 11(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11010001 - 24 Dec 2024
Viewed by 814
Abstract
Developing an exceptional reaction medium with high promotion efficiency, desirable biodegradability and good recyclability is necessary for hydrate-based methane storage. In this work, a kind of eco-friendly hydrogel, polyvinyl alcohol-co-acrylic acid (PVA-co-PAA), was utilized to absorb dilute sodium p-styrenesulfonate (SS) solution, for constructing [...] Read more.
Developing an exceptional reaction medium with high promotion efficiency, desirable biodegradability and good recyclability is necessary for hydrate-based methane storage. In this work, a kind of eco-friendly hydrogel, polyvinyl alcohol-co-acrylic acid (PVA-co-PAA), was utilized to absorb dilute sodium p-styrenesulfonate (SS) solution, for constructing a hybrid reaction medium for methane hydrate formation. Hydrogels or dilute SS solutions (1–4 mmol L−1) had weak or even no promoting effects on hydrate formation kinetics, while the combination of them could synergistically promote methane hydrate formation. In hydrogel-SS hybrid media containing 1, 2, 3 and 4 mmol L−1 of SS solutions, the storage capacity reached 121.2 ± 1.6, 121.5 ± 3.1, 122.6 ± 1.9 and 120.6 ± 1.6 v/v, respectively. In this binary reaction system, the large surface area of hydrogels provided hydrate formation with sufficient nucleation sites and an enlarged gas–liquid interface, and in the meantime, the dilute SS solution produced an adequate capillary effect, which together enhanced mass transfer and accelerated hydrate formation kinetics. Additionally, the hybrid medium could relieve wall-climbing hydrate growth and improve poor hydrate compactness resulting from the bulk SS promoter. Moreover, the hybrid medium exhibited a preferable recyclability and could be reused at least 10 times. Therefore, the hydrogel-SS hybrid medium can serve as an effective and eco-friendly packing medium for methane hydrate storage tanks, which holds great application potential in hydrate-based methane storage technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Polymer-Based Smart Hydrogels: Design, Properties and Applications)
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