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Gels
Special Issues
Recent Advances in Hydrogel Materials
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Recent Advances in Hydrogel Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2025) | Viewed by 2407

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Siyuan Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
Interests: transdermal delivery; hydrogel-forming microneedles; nano-drug delivery systems; controlled release
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Akira Matsumoto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 101-0062, Japan
Interests: polymer gel; gel; boronic acids; drug delivery systems; biosensors; microneedles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce this Special Issue on ‘Recent Advances in Hydrogel Materials’. Hydrogels containing three-dimensional networks formed by physical or chemical cross-linking of hydrophilic polymer chains or molecules have shown ideal properties for widespread application. Due to their excellent biodegradability and biocompatibility, controlled degradation, tunable physical properties, hydrophilicity, softness, and fluffiness, their play important roles in biomedical applications. Hydrogel materials have also gained attention for their use in energy storage, conversion applications, and in the development of wearable sensors. In addition, hydrogels also respond to various stimuli, such as temperature, electric field, magnetic field, biological molecules, and ionic strength, which enable them to meet the requirements for smart applications. This Special Issue provides an excellent platform to share the up-to-date research progress in the design, synthesis, and application of hydrogel materials. Research papers or reviews that showcase the latest advancements and breakthroughs in this field are welcomed. We look forward to receiving your contributions and believe that this Special Issue will promote the development of hydrogel materials.

Dr. Siyuan Chen
Prof. Dr. Akira Matsumoto
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

  • hydrogels
  • polymers
  • gel synthesis
  • characterization
  • interdisciplinary applications

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2376 KB  
Article
pH-Responsive Nanogels from Bioinspired Comb-like Polymers with Hydrophobic Grafts for Effective Oral Delivery
by Qinglong Liu, Dewei Ma, Haoze Cheng, Keke Yang, Bo Hou, Ziwen Heng, Yu Qian, Wei Liu and Siyuan Chen
Gels 2025, 11(10), 806; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11100806 - 8 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 383
Abstract
Oral administration remains the most patient-friendly drug delivery route, yet its efficacy is limited by physiological barriers including gastric degradation and inefficient cellular uptake. pH-responsive nanogels have shown promise for gastrointestinal drug delivery, though their effectiveness is often constrained by poor membrane interaction. [...] Read more.
Oral administration remains the most patient-friendly drug delivery route, yet its efficacy is limited by physiological barriers including gastric degradation and inefficient cellular uptake. pH-responsive nanogels have shown promise for gastrointestinal drug delivery, though their effectiveness is often constrained by poor membrane interaction. Inspired by natural membrane-anchoring mechanisms, a series of comb-like anionic polymers were designed via grafting alkylamines of different chain lengths (C10, C14, C18) at varying densities (10–30%) onto a biodegradable poly(L-lysine isophthalamide) (PLP) backbone. These pH-responsive comb-like polymers self-assembled into nanogels for loading the hydrophobic chemotherapeutic agent camptothecin. The alkyl length and grafting density significantly influenced pH-responsive behavior, membrane disruption, and drug release profiles. The optimal formulation—the nanogel prepared with PLP grafted 30% C14—achieved a high drug-loading capacity, ideal particle size and stability, and offered superior protection in acidic conditions (only 7 ± 5% release at pH 1.2 over 24 h), while enabling rapid intestinal release (78 ± 2% at pH 7.4 within 24 h). The nanogels significantly enhanced cellular uptake, cytoplasmic delivery, and cytotoxicity against colorectal carcinoma cells. This study demonstrates the key role of hydrophobic modification in designing effective oral nanocarriers, providing a promising platform for the treatment of intestinal diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Hydrogel Materials)
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19 pages, 4973 KB  
Article
Temperature- and pH-Responsive Poly(NIPAM-co-HEMA-co-AAm) Nanogel as a Smart Vehicle for Doxorubicin Delivery; Combating Colorectal Cancer
by Soheila Ghasemi, Mehdi Najafi, Mohammad Doroudian, Banafsheh Rastegari, Abbas Behzad-Behbahani, Hadis Soltanimehr and Fatemeh Farjadian
Gels 2025, 11(4), 227; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11040227 - 22 Mar 2025
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1676
Abstract
In this project, a new class of temperature- and pH-sensitive hydrogel consisting of N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM), hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and acrylamide (AAm) was prepared via a controlled route through the reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization process. Poly(ethyleneglycol) dimethacrylate (PEG-DMA) was used as [...] Read more.
In this project, a new class of temperature- and pH-sensitive hydrogel consisting of N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM), hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and acrylamide (AAm) was prepared via a controlled route through the reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization process. Poly(ethyleneglycol) dimethacrylate (PEG-DMA) was used as a long-chain hydrophilic and biocompatible crosslinking agent. The hydrogel structure was confirmed by different characteristic techniques such as 1H NMR, FT-IR, and SEC, and the morphology and particle diameters were checked via the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods. Afterward, the as-prepared hydrogel, poly(NIPAM-co-HEMA-co-AAm), was loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) to be used as a temperature- and pH-triggered delivery carrier. The prepared system released DOX slowly at 37 °C and neutral pH, but increased DOX release significantly at 42 °C and acidic pH. The anti-cancer efficiencies of free DOX, hydrogel, and the DOX–hydrogel conjugate were tested in vitro using human colorectal adenocarcinoma HT-29 cell lines. Cytotoxicity evaluation of free DOX compared with the DOX–hydrogel conjugate revealed that more cancer cells were killed with increasing concentration. Moreover, the DOX-mediated apoptosis and ROS levels showed the beneficial effects of poly(NIPAM-co-HEMA-co-AAm) hydrogel for cancer drug delivery. Generally, the results suggest that this system can be a potential candidate for designing drug delivery systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Hydrogel Materials)
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