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New Advances in Synthesis of Functional Hydrogels
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New Advances in Synthesis of Functional Hydrogels

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 7698

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Saihua Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: soft matter; flexible electronics; 2D materials; flame retardancy
Dr. Weizhao Hu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
Interests: design and synthesis of clean flame retardant; high performance polymer matrix nanocomposites; Flame retardant mechanism of polymer materials
Prof. Dr. Bin Yu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
Interests: polymer composites; flame retardancy; bio-inspired materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogels are formed by hydrophilic polymer networks, and retain large amounts of water. They display a broad tunability of physical and chemical properties which can be adjusted during the synthesis process to meet different demands. Recently, functional hydrogels have been being widely and intensively investigated in various fields including sensors, electronics, coatings and soft robotics, owing to their superior softness, responsiveness, wetness and conductivity. These functional hydrogels exhibit satisfying performance in applications such as protecting flammable materials from fire as coatings, monitoring and collecting personal health data as wearable electronics, being integrated with soft robotics to gather information about the surrounding environment as sensors etc., implying the increasingly significant role of functional hydrogels in the future. Accordingly, progress in functional hydrogel design, synthesis and application have been receiving a great deal of attention. However, comprehensive Special Issues on various functional hydrogels that systematically correlate their synthesis and application are rare. This Special Issue will be dedicated to advances in the synthesis of functional hydrogels, with a focus on original research papers or reviews of different functional hydrogels including electronics, e-skin, coatings, soft robotics and related topics with the aim of revealing the potential of functional hydrogels. 

Dr. Saihua Jiang
Dr. Weizhao Hu
Prof. Dr. Bin Yu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • hydrogel
  • synthesis
  • function
  • application

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2173 KiB  
Article
Ester Bonds for Modulation of the Mechanical Properties of Protein Hydrogels
by Di Zhang, Luofei Li, Yizhou Fang, Quan Ma, Yi Cao and Hai Lei
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(13), 10778; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241310778 - 28 Jun 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2029
Abstract
Hydrogels are soft materials constructed of physically or chemically crosslinked polymeric net-works with abundant water. The crosslinkers, as the mechanophores that bear and respond to mechanical forces, play a critical role in determining the mechanical properties of hydrogels. Here, we use a polyprotein [...] Read more.
Hydrogels are soft materials constructed of physically or chemically crosslinked polymeric net-works with abundant water. The crosslinkers, as the mechanophores that bear and respond to mechanical forces, play a critical role in determining the mechanical properties of hydrogels. Here, we use a polyprotein as the crosslinker and mechanophore to form covalent polymer hydrogels in which the toughness and fatigue fracture are controlled by the mechanical unfolding of polyproteins. The protein Parvimonas sp. (ParV) is super stable and remains folded even at forces > 2 nN; however, it can unfold under loading forces of ~100 pN at basic pH values or low calcium concentrations due to destabilization of the protein structures. Through tuning the protein unfolding by pH and calcium concentrations, the hydrogel exhibits differences in modulus, strength, and anti-fatigue fracture. We found that due to the partially unfolding of ParV, the Young’s modulus decreased at pH 9.0 or in the presence of EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid), moreover, because partially unfolded ParV can be further completely unfolded due to the mechanically rupture of ester bond, leading to the observed hysteresis of the stretching and relaxation traces of the hydrogels, which is in line with single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments. These results display a new avenue for designing pH- or calcium-responsive hydrogels based on proteins and demonstrate the relationship between the mechanical properties of single molecules and macroscopic hydrogel networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Synthesis of Functional Hydrogels)
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24 pages, 6477 KiB  
Article
Retinol-Loaded Poly(vinyl alcohol)-Based Hydrogels as Suitable Biomaterials with Antimicrobial Properties for the Proliferation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells
by Jeevithan Elango, Camilo Zamora-Ledezma, Daniela Negrete-Bolagay, Piedad N. De Aza, Vicente M. Gómez-López, Ivan López-González, Ana Belén Hernández, José Eduardo Maté Sánchez De Val and Wenhui Wu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(24), 15623; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232415623 - 9 Dec 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2531
Abstract
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels are well-known biomimetic 3D systems for mammalian cell cultures to mimic native tissues. Recently, several biomolecules were intended for use in PVA hydrogels to improve their biological properties. However, retinol, an important biomolecule, has not been combined with a [...] Read more.
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels are well-known biomimetic 3D systems for mammalian cell cultures to mimic native tissues. Recently, several biomolecules were intended for use in PVA hydrogels to improve their biological properties. However, retinol, an important biomolecule, has not been combined with a PVA hydrogel for culturing bone marrow mesenchymal stem (BMMS) cells. Thus, for the first time, the effect of retinol on the physicochemical, antimicrobial, and cell proliferative properties of a PVA hydrogel was investigated. The ability of protein (3.15 nm) and mineral adsorption (4.8 mg/mL) of a PVA hydrogel was improved by 0.5 wt.% retinol. The antimicrobial effect of hydrogel was more significant in S. aureus (39.3 mm) than in E. coli (14.6 mm), and the effect was improved by increasing the retinol concentration. The BMMS cell proliferation was more upregulated in retinol-loaded PVA hydrogel than in the control at 7 days. We demonstrate that the respective in vitro degradation rate of retinol-loaded PVA hydrogels (RPH) (75–78% degradation) may promote both antibacterial and cellular proliferation. Interestingly, the incorporation of retinol did not affect the cell-loading capacity of PVA hydrogel. Accordingly, the fabricated PVA retinol hydrogel proved its compatibility in a stem cell culture and could be a potential biomaterial for tissue regeneration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Synthesis of Functional Hydrogels)
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15 pages, 3672 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Flame Retardancy of Rigid Polyurethane Foams by Polyacrylamide/MXene Hydrogel Nanocomposite Coating
by Bin Chen and Lizhong Yang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(20), 12632; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232012632 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2338
Abstract
Rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) has been widely used in many fields, but its high flammability and frequent release of large amounts of toxic smoke during combustion limit its application. Hydrogel coatings, as a kind of environmentally friendly material, contain large amounts of water, [...] Read more.
Rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) has been widely used in many fields, but its high flammability and frequent release of large amounts of toxic smoke during combustion limit its application. Hydrogel coatings, as a kind of environmentally friendly material, contain large amounts of water, which is beneficial to flame retardance of RPUF. MXene, as a two-dimensional inorganic nanomaterial, possesses a large specific surface area and good thermal stability, performing well in smoke suppression and as a physical barrier for flammable gas products and heat. Herein, to address the fire hazards of RPUF, MXene nanosheets were first grafted with double bonds, and then introduced into a polyacrylamide hydrogel system by radical polymerization to prepare MXene-based hydrogel coating (PAAm-MXene). The flame-retardant RPUF (coated RPUF) was prepared by painting the PAAm-MXene coating onto RPUF surface. The dispersion of modified MXene nanosheets (m-MXene) in hydrogels is improved compared with pristine MXene, and the addition of m-MXene contributes to the thermal stability enhancement of PAAm-MXene. Cone calorimetry, water retention test, and open flame combustion test were used to study the flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and water retention of flame-retardant RPUF. The coated RPUF exhibited significant flame retardancy, including reduced peak heat release rate (pHRR) at a maximum by 25.8%, and total heat release rate (THR) at a maximum by 24.6%, and total smoke production at a maximum by 38.9%. The results show that both MXene and m-MXene can improve the flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and water retention of hydrogels, but m-MXene has a better smoke suppression effect than MXene. That can be ascribed to the better dispersion of m-MXene than pristine MXene. The detailed performance improvement mechanisms are proposed. This work will not only improve the flame retardancy of RPUF, but also promotes the exploration of new flame-retardant strategies for RPUF. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Synthesis of Functional Hydrogels)
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