Supertough Hybrid Hydrogels Consisting of a Polymer Double‐Network and Mesoporous Silica Microrods for Mechanically Stimulated On‐Demand Drug Delivery |
| |
Authors: | Suji Choi Young jin Choi Moon‐Sun Jang Jung Hee Lee Ji Hoon Jeong Jaeyun Kim |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. School of Chemical Engineering, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Science and Technology (SAIHST), Biomedical Institute for Convergence at SKKU (BICS), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea;2. Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Advanced Institute of Health Science and Technology (SAIHST), Seoul, Republic of Korea;3. School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Republic of Korea |
| |
Abstract: | Despite their potential in various fields of bioapplications, such as drug/cell delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine, hydrogels have often suffered from their weak mechanical properties, which are attributed to their single network of polymers. Here, supertough composite hydrogels are proposed consisting of alginate/polyacrylamide double‐network hydrogels embedded with mesoporous silica particles (SBA‐15). The supertoughness is derived from efficient energy dissipation through the multiple bondings, such as ionic crosslinking of alginate, covalent crosslinking of polyacrylamide, and van der Waals interactions and hydrogen bondings between SBA‐15 and the polymers. The superior mechanical properties of these hybrid hydrogels make it possible to maintain the hydrogel structure for a long period of time in a physiological solution. Based on their high mechanical stability, these hybrid hydrogels are demonstrated to exhibit on‐demand drug release, which is controlled by an external mechanical stimulation (both in vitro and in vivo). Moreover, different types of drugs can be separately loaded into the hydrogel network and mesopores of SBA‐15 and can be released with different speeds, suggesting that these hydrogels can also be used for multiple drug release. |
| |
Keywords: | double networks hybrid hydrogels mesoporous silica on‐demand drug delivery tough hydrogels |
|
|