Printable homocomposite hydrogels with synergistically reinforced molecular-colloidal networks.
Nat Commun 2021;
12:2834. [PMID:
33990593 PMCID:
PMC8121785 DOI:
10.1038/s41467-021-23098-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The design of hydrogels where multiple interpenetrating networks enable enhanced mechanical properties can broaden their field of application in biomedical materials, 3D printing, and soft robotics. We report a class of self-reinforced homocomposite hydrogels (HHGs) comprised of interpenetrating networks of multiscale hierarchy. A molecular alginate gel is reinforced by a colloidal network of hierarchically branched alginate soft dendritic colloids (SDCs). The reinforcement of the molecular gel with the nanofibrillar SDC network of the same biopolymer results in a remarkable increase of the HHG’s mechanical properties. The viscoelastic HHGs show >3× larger storage modulus and >4× larger Young’s modulus than either constitutive network at the same concentration. Such synergistically enforced colloidal-molecular HHGs open up numerous opportunities for formulation of biocompatible gels with robust structure-property relationships. Balance of the ratio of their precursors facilitates precise control of the yield stress and rate of self-reinforcement, enabling efficient extrusion 3D printing of HHGs.
Composites which are made up of a single polymer, and yet allow modulation of the mechanical properties of the matrix without stress concentration, are challenging to fabricate. Here, the authors design a selfreinforced homocomposite alginate hydrogel with enhanced mechanical properties incorporating soft dendritic alginate colloids in the matrix and demonstrate its application in extrusion printing.
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