Novel supramolecular hydrogels made via Michael-type addition reaction of dithiothreitol with self-assembly of α-cyclodextrins and acryloyl-terminated 3-arm PEG

A kind of novel three-dimensional crosslinked hydrogel was synthesized via Michael-type addition reaction of dithiothreitol (DTT) as a crosslinker/extender towards the self-assembly of α-cyclodextrins (α-CDs) with acryloyl end capped 3-arm PEG. The supramolecular structure of the resulting hydrogels was characterized by using FT-IR, TGA, XRD and DSC measurements. The effect of varying the amount of α-CDs was studied on the crosslinking process. Interestingly, this conjugation reaction is smoothly carried out at physiological temperature and pH in the absence of any sensitizer or catalyst. It appears that these chemically crosslinked hydrogels have the potential to be used as carriers for drug controlled release and scaffolds for injectable tissue engineering.