Engineering Tough and Elastic Polyvinyl Alcohol-Based Hydrogel with Antimicrobial Properties.

Hydrogels have been extensively used for tissue engineering applications due to their versatility in structure and physical properties, which can mimic native tissues. Although significant progress has been made towards designing hydrogels for soft tissue repair, engineering hydrogels that resemble load-bearing tissues is still considered a great challenge due to their specific mechano-physical demands. Here, we report microporous, tough, yet highly compressible poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-based hydrogels for potential applications in repairing or replacing different load-bearing tissues.

A Highly Stretchable, Conductive, and Transparent Bioadhesive Hydrogel as a Flexible Sensor for Enhanced Real-Time Human Health Monitoring.

Real-time continuous monitoring of non-cognitive markers is crucial for the early detection and management of chronic conditions. Current diagnostic methods are often invasive and not suitable for at-home monitoring. An elastic, adhesive, and biodegradable hydrogel-based wearable sensor with superior accuracy and durability for monitoring real-time human health is developed.

Designing a Naturally Inspired Conductive Copolymer to Engineer Wearable Bioadhesives for Sensing Applications.

The design of adhesive and conductive soft hydrogels using biopolymers with tunable mechanical properties has received significant interest in the field of wearable sensors for detecting human motions. These hydrogels are primarily fabricated through the modification of biopolymers to introduce cross-linking sites, the conjugation of adhesive components, and the incorporation of conductive materials into the hydrogel network. The development of a multifunctional copolymer that integrates adhesive and conductive properties within a single polymer chain with suitable cross-linking sites eliminates the need for biopolymer modification and the addition of extra conductive and adhesive components.

Biodegradable Antibacterial Bioorthogonal Polymeric Nanocatalysts Prepared by Flash Nanoprecipitation.

Bioorthogonal activation of pro-dyes and prodrugs using transition-metal catalysts (TMCs) provides a promising strategy for imaging and therapeutic applications. TMCs can be loaded into polymeric nanoparticles through hydrophobic encapsulation to generate polymeric nanocatalysts with enhanced solubility and stability. However, biomedical use of these nanostructures faces challenges due to unwanted tissue accumulation of nonbiodegradable nanomaterials and cytotoxicity of heavy-metal catalysts.

Biodegradable Poly(lactic acid) Stabilized Nanoemulsions for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Biofilms.

Biofilm infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are an urgent global health threat. Incorporation of natural essential oils into biodegradable oil-in-water cross-linked polymeric nanoemulsions (X-NEs) provides effective eradication of MDR bacterial biofilms. The X-NE platform combines the degradability of functionalized poly(lactic acid) polymers with the antimicrobial activity of carvacrol (from oregano oil).

Thiol-Reactive Clickable Cryogels: Importance of Macroporosity and Linkers on Biomolecular Immobilization.

Macroporous cryogels that are amenable to facile functionalization are attractive platforms for biomolecular immobilization, a vital step for fabrication of scaffolds necessary for areas like tissue engineering and diagnostic sensing. In this work, thiol-reactive porous cryogels are obtained via photopolymerization of a furan-protected maleimide-containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based methacrylate (PEGFuMaMA) monomer. A series of cryogels are prepared using varying amounts of the masked hydrophilic PEGFuMaMA monomer, along with poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate and poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate, a hydrophilic monomer and cross-linker, respectively, in the presence of a photoinitiator.

The Taming of the Maleimide: Fabrication of Maleimide-Containing 'Clickable' Polymeric Materials.

Functional polymers are widely employed in various areas of biomedical sciences. In order to tailor them for desired applications, facile and efficient functionalization of these polymeric materials under mild and benign conditions is important. Polymers containing reactive maleimide groups can be employed for such applications since they provide an excellent handle for conjugation of thiol- and diene-containing molecules and biomolecules.

Functionalization of Reduced Graphene Oxide via Thiol-Maleimide "Click" Chemistry: Facile Fabrication of Targeted Drug Delivery Vehicles.

Materials based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have shown to be amenable to noncovalent functionalization through hydrophobic interactions. The scaffold, however, does not provide sufficient covalent linkage given the low number of reactive carboxyl and alcohol groups typically available on the rGO. The integration of clickable groups, particularly the ones that can undergo efficient conjugation without any metal catalyst, would allow facile functionalization of these materials.

Magnetic reduced graphene oxide loaded hydrogels: Highly versatile and efficient adsorbents for dyes and selective Cr(VI) ions removal.

The formation of composites of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and magnetic nanoparticles (MP) has flourished in recent years as they combine the advantages of both nanomaterials. Most of these composite materials are prepared by in situ formation of MP onto rGO or by the post-adsorption onto rGO. We report here on a simple and highly controlled method for the fabrication of different magnetic 3D rGO-loaded hydrogels.

Photothermally triggered on-demand insulin release from reduced graphene oxide modified hydrogels.

On-demand delivery of therapeutics plays an essential role in simplifying and improving patient care. The high loading capacity of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for drugs has made this matrix of particular interest for its hybridization with therapeutics. In this work, we describe the formulation of rGO impregnated poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate based hydrogels (PEGDMA-rGO) and their efficient loading with insulin.

Modular Fabrication of Polymer Brush Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles: Engineering the Interface for Targeted Cellular Imaging.

Development of efficient and rapid protocols for diversification of functional magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) would enable identification of promising candidates using high-throughput protocols for applications such as diagnostics and cure through early detection and localized delivery. Polymer brush coated magnetic nanoparticles find use in many such applications. A protocol that allows modular diversification of a pool of parent polymer coated nanoparticles will lead to a library of functional materials with improved uniformity.