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Hydrogels for Biomedical and Structural Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2024) | Viewed by 3286

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Laboratory for Radiation and Polymer Science, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, A. J. Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2115, USA
Interests: polymers; biomaterials; radiation engineering; nuclear engineering; environmental effects
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymers and polymer composites have been the essential components for almost all hydrogels used in advanced biomedical applications. Their applications in biomedical applications have covered a wide range of areas, including drug delivery systems, medical imaging, chemical and biological sensors, enzymes immobilized in the hydrogel microspheres, self-assembly-based technologies, hydrogel-bio-nanoreactors, building blocks of scaffolds for tissue engineering, mimicking soft human tissues, and last but certainly not least the new frontiers on the implementations of hydrogels in preventing corrosions of the stainless steel rebars. Manuscripts which present novel copolymer and polymer composite hydrogels for advanced technologies will also be considered in this issue. There are even more pioneering research programs investigating other emerging applications where polymer hydrogels are being considered.

This Special Issue will publish only groundbreaking and new results on the synthesis, characterizations, and implementations of polymer hydrogels. Despite the fact that the focus will mainly be on nanohydrogels, manuscripts that reveal new findings and theories on micro and macro hydrogels will also be considered.

This issue will also include the synthesis of polymer hydrogels that are based on biocompatible and biodegradable natural polymers such as cellulose and gelatin.  Gelatin is synthesized from a degraded form of collagen, which is a major component of protein found in bones, tendons, and skin. There are new trends and attempts to cross-link gelatin with various synthesized polymers to enhance their physical properties and widen their applications.

Prof. Dr. Mohamad Al-Sheikhly
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • drug delivery
  • medical imaging
  • biosensors
  • scaffolds
  • tissue engineering
  • hydrogels
  • nanohydrogels
  • nanocomposite hydrogels

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 4609 KiB  
Article
Crosslinking and Swelling Properties of pH-Responsive Poly(Ethylene Glycol)/Poly(Acrylic Acid) Interpenetrating Polymer Network Hydrogels
by Uijung Hwang, HoYeon Moon, Junyoung Park and Hyun Wook Jung
Polymers 2024, 16(15), 2149; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16152149 - 29 Jul 2024
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2838
Abstract
This study investigates the crosslinking dynamics and swelling properties of pH-responsive poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)/poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogels. These hydrogels feature denser crosslinked networks compared to PEG single network (SN) hydrogels. Fabrication involved a two-step UV curing process: First, forming [...] Read more.
This study investigates the crosslinking dynamics and swelling properties of pH-responsive poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)/poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogels. These hydrogels feature denser crosslinked networks compared to PEG single network (SN) hydrogels. Fabrication involved a two-step UV curing process: First, forming PEG-SN hydrogels using poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) through UV-induced free radical polymerization and crosslinking reactions, then immersing them in PAA solutions with two different molar ratios of acrylic acid (AA) monomer and poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) crosslinker. A subsequent UV curing step created PAA networks within the pre-fabricated PEG hydrogels. The incorporation of AA with ionizable functional groups imparted pH sensitivity to the hydrogels, allowing the swelling ratio to respond to environmental pH changes. Rheological analysis showed that PEG/PAA IPN hydrogels had a higher storage modulus (G′) than PEG-SN hydrogels, with PEG/PAA-IPN5 exhibiting the highest modulus. Thermal analysis via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated increased thermal stability for PEG/PAA-IPN5 compared to PEG/PAA-IPN1, due to higher crosslinking density from increased PEGDMA content. Consistent with the storage modulus trend, PEG/PAA-IPN hydrogels demonstrated superior mechanical properties compared to PEG-SN hydrogels. The tighter network structure led to reduced water uptake and a higher gel modulus in swollen IPN hydrogels, attributed to the increased density of active network strands. Below the pKa (4.3) of acrylic acid, hydrogen bonds between PEG and PAA chains caused the IPN hydrogels to contract. Above the pKa, ionization of PAA chains induced electrostatic repulsion and osmotic forces, increasing water absorption. Adjusting the crosslinking density of the PAA network enabled fine-tuning of the IPN hydrogels’ properties, allowing comprehensive comparison of single network and IPN characteristics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrogels for Biomedical and Structural Applications)
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