Hofmeister Effect Mediated Strong PHEMA-Gelatin Hydrogel Actuator

β-Lactoglobulin-based aerogels: Facile preparation and sustainable removal of organic contaminants from water

Economically and efficiently removing organic pollutants from water is still a challenge in wastewater treatment. Utilizing environmentally friendly and readily available protein-based natural polymers to develop aerogels with effective removal performance and sustainable regeneration capability is a promising strategy for adsorbent design. Here, a robust and cost-effective method using inexpensive β-lactoglobulin (BLG) as raw material was proposed to fabricate BLG-based aerogels. Firstly, photocurable BLG-based polymers were synthesized by grafting glycidyl methacrylate. Then, a cross-linking reaction, including photo-crosslinking and salting-out treatment, was applied to prepared BLG-based hydrogels. Finally, the BLG-based aerogels with high porosity and ultralight weight were obtained after freeze-drying. The outcomes revealed that the biocompatible BLG-based aerogels exhibited effective removal performance for a variety of organic pollutants under perfectly quiescent conditions, and could be regenerated and reused many times via a simple and rapid process of acid washing and centrifugation. Overall, this work not only demonstrates that BLG-based aerogels are promising adsorbents for water purification but also provides a potential way for the sustainable utilization of BLG.

Self-Healing Polymeric Materials and Composites for Additive Manufacturing

Self-healing polymers have received widespread attention due to their ability to repair damage autonomously and increase material stability, reliability, and economy. However, the processability of self-healing materials has yet to be studied, limiting the application of rich self-healing mechanisms. Additive manufacturing effectively improves the shortcomings of conventional processing while increasing production speed, accuracy, and complexity, offering great promise for self-healing polymer applications. This article summarizes the current self-healing mechanisms of self-healing polymers and their corresponding additive manufacturing methods, and provides an outlook on future developments in the field.

Tough and Recyclable Phase-Separated Supramolecular Gels via a Dehydration-Hydration Cycle

Hydrogels are compelling materials for emerging applications including soft robotics and autonomous sensing. Mechanical stability over an extensive range of environmental conditions and considerations of sustainability, both environmentally benign processing and end-of-life use, are enduring challenges. To make progress on these challenges, we designed a dehydration-hydration approach to transform soft and weak hydrogels into tough and recyclable supramolecular phase-separated gels (PSGs) using water as the only solvent. The dehydration-hydration approach led to phase separation and the formation of domains consisting of strong polymer-polymer interactions that are critical for forming PSGs. The phase-separated segments acted as robust, physical cross-links to strengthen PSGs, which exhibited enhanced toughness and stretchability in its fully swollen state. PSGs are not prone to overswelling or severe shrinkage in wet conditions and show environmental tolerance in harsh conditions, e.g., solutions with pH between 1 and 14. Finally, we demonstrate the use of PSGs as strain sensors in air and aqueous environments.

4D-Printed Hydrogel Actuators through Diffusion-Path Architecture Design

Recently, smart hydrogels have garnered considerable attention as biomedical devices, and several approaches have been introduced for their fabrication, including the incorporation of stimulus-responsive additives, utilization of molecular imprinting techniques, and application of multilayered hydrogels. However, the nonuniform properties resulting from these approaches limit the practical applications of hydrogels by causing inconsistent performance and behavior. In this study, we propose a novel approach to manipulating the swelling kinetics of hydrogels by engineering their diffusion-path architecture. By simply adjusting the diffusion path length within the hydrogel, we achieved a significant change in swelling kinetics. This approach enables precise control over the diffusion and transport processes within the hydrogel, resulting in enhanced swelling kinetics when reducing the diffusion path length. Furthermore, by strategically designing the diffusion-path architecture of a 3D-printed hydrogel specimen, we can fabricate smart hydrogel actuators that exhibit reversible shape transformations during swelling and deswelling through a nonequilibrium differential swelling. The proposed approach eliminates the need to modify the spatial properties of hydrogel structures such as cross-linking density, polymer, or additive compositions, thereby achieving uniform properties throughout the hydrogel and creating new possibilities for the development of advanced 4D-printed biomedical devices.

Bio-Inspired Conductive Hydrogels with High Toughness and Ultra-Stability as Wearable Human-Machine Interfaces for all Climates

Drawing inspiration from Salicornia, a plant with the remarkable ability to thrive in harsh environments, a conductive hydrogel with high toughness and ultra-stability is reported. Specifically, the strategy of pre-cross-linking followed by secondary soaking in saturated salt solutions is introduced to prepare the PAAM-alginate conductive hydrogel with dual cross-linked dual network structure. It allows the alginate network to achieve complete cross-linking, fully leveraging the structural advantages of the PAAM-alginate conductive hydrogel. The highest tensile strength of the obtained conductive hydrogel is 697.3 kPa and the fracture energy can reach 69.59 kJ m-2 , significantly higher than human cartilage and natural rubbers. Specially, by introducing saturated salt solutions within the hydrogel, the colligative properties endow the PAAM-alginate conductive hydrogel with excellent water retention and anti-freezing properties. The prepared conductive hydrogels can work stably in an ambient environment for more than 7 days and still maintain good mechanical behavior and ionic conductivity at -50 °C. Benefiting from the excellent comprehensive performance of conductive hydrogels, wearable human-machine interfaces that can withstand large joint movements and are adapted for extreme environments are prepared to achieve precise control of robots and prostheses, respectively.

Hofmeister effect-based soaking strategy for gelatin hydrogels with adjustable gelation temperature, mechanical properties, and ionic conductivity

As a natural polymer with good biocompatibility, gelatin hydrogel has been widely used in the field of biomedical science for a long time. However, the lack of suitable gelation temperature and mechanical properties often limit the clinical applicability in diverse and complex environments. Here, we proposed a strategy based on the Hofmeister effect that gelatin hydrogels were soaked in the appropriate concentration of sodium sulfate solution, and the change in molecular chain interactions mainly guided by kosmotropic ions resulted in a comprehensive adjustment of multiple properties. A series of gelatin hydrogels treated with different concentrations of the salt solution gave rise to microstructural changes, which brought a decrease in the number and size of pores, a wide range of gelation temperature from 32 °C to 46 °C, a stress enhancement of about 40 times stronger to 0.8345 MPa, a strain increase of about 7 times higher to 238.05 %, and a certain degree of electrical conductivity to be utilized for versatile applications. In this regard, for example, we prepared microneedles and obtained a remarkable compression (punctuation) strength of 0.661 N/needle, which was 55 times greater than those of untreated ones. Overall, by integrating various characterizations and suggesting the corresponding mechanism behind the phenomenon, this method provides a simpler and more convenient performance control procedure. This allowed us to easily modulate the properties of the hydrogel as per the intended purpose, revealing its vast potential applications such as smart sensors, electronic skin, and drug delivery.

Optimization strategies of mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy for acute kidney injury

Considering the high prevalence and the lack of targeted pharmacological management of acute kidney injury (AKI), the search for new therapeutic approaches for it is in urgent demand. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been increasingly recognized as a promising candidate for the treatment of AKI. However, clinical translation of MSCs-based therapies is hindered due to the poor retention and survival rates as well as the impaired paracrine ability of MSCs post-delivery. To address these issues, a series of strategies including local administration, three-dimensional culture, and preconditioning have been applied. Owing to the emergence and development of these novel biotechnologies, the effectiveness of MSCs in experimental AKI models is greatly improved. Here, we summarize the different approaches suggested to optimize the efficacy of MSCs therapy, aiming at promoting the therapeutic effects of MSCs on AKI patients.

"Salting out" in Hofmeister Effect Enhancing Mechanical and Electrochemical Performance of Amide-based Hydrogel Electrolytes for Flexible Zinc-Ion Battery

With the development of flexible and wearable electronic devices, it is a new challenge for polymer hydrogel electrolytes to combine high mechanical flexibility and electrochemical performance into one membrane. In general, the high content of water in hydrogel electrolyte membranes always leads to poor mechanical strength, and limits their applications in flexible energy storage devices. In this work, based on the "salting out" phenomenon in Hofmeister effect, a kind of gelatin-based hydrogel electrolyte membrane is fabricated with high mechanical strength and ionic conductivity by soaking pre-gelated gelatin hydrogel in 2 m ZnSO₄ aqueous. Among various gelatin-based electrolyte membranes, the gelatin-ZnSO₄ electrolyte membrane delivers the "salting out" property of Hofmeister effect, which improves both the mechanical strength and electrochemical performance of gelatin-based electrolyte membranes. The breaking strength reaches 1.5 MPa. When applied to supercapacitors and zinc-ion batteries, it can sustain over 7500 and 9300 cycles for repeated charging and discharging processes. This study provides a very simple and universal method to prepare polymer hydrogel electrolytes with high strength, toughness, and stability, and its applications in flexible energy storage devices provide a new idea for the construction of secure and stable flexible and wearable electronic devices.

Anisotropic cellulose nanocrystal composite hydrogel for multiple responses and information encryption

Anisotropic composites based on well-ordered cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have received increasing attention due to their fascinating optical properties. In this study, we fabricated a multi-functional hydrogel with nematic organization of CNC by soaking a pre-stretched polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/CNC cyrogel in Na₂SO₄, CaCl₂ solution and DI water in sequence. The crystalline domains, water content and transmittance of the hydrogel are regulated via the Hofmeister effect and hydrophobic interactions, which makes the birefringence of the hydrogel observable by interference colors. The aligned CNC not only enhance the mechanical strength of hydrogel, but also endow it with stimuli-responsive ability to the varying environment such as ion strength (0 to 5 M NaCl solution) and external forces (pressure of 0 to 248 kPa). Moreover, the patterned hydrogels are successfully fabricated by the method of local solvent displacement. Due to the low light transmission, the pattern can be encrypted and only be observed between crossed polarizers. These optical properties made the hydrogel a promising candidate for environmental monitoring and anti-counterfeit material.

Mechanically Strong, Freeze-Resistant, and Ionically Conductive Organohydrogels for Flexible Strain Sensors and Batteries

Conductive hydrogels as promising material candidates for soft electronics have been rapidly developed in recent years. However, the low ionic conductivity, limited mechanical properties, and insufficient freeze-resistance greatly limit their applications for flexible and wearable electronics. Herein, aramid nanofiber (ANF)-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) organohydrogels containing dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)/H₂ O mixed solvents with outstanding freeze-resistance are fabricated through solution casting and 3D printing methods. The organohydrogels show both high tensile strength and toughness due to the synergistic effect of ANFs and DMSO in the system, which promotes PVA crystallization and intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions between PVA molecules as well as ANFs and PVA, confirmed by a suite of characterization and molecular dynamics simulations. The organohydrogels also exhibit ultrahigh ionic conductivity, ranging from 1.1 to 34.3 S m^-1 at -50 to 60 °C. Building on these excellent material properties, the organohydrogel-based strain sensors and solid-state zinc-air batteries (ZABs) are fabricated, which have a broad working temperature range. Particularly, the ZABs not only exhibit high specific capacity (262 mAh g^-1 ) with ultra-long cycling life (355 cycles, 118 h) even at -30 °C, but also can work properly under various deformation states, manifesting their great potential applications in soft robotics and wearable electronics.

Dynamic modulation and epoxy functionalization of protein-mediated enoate ester-based hybrid cryogels

The current work is focused on the preparation of protein-mediated poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) copolymer as a self-template for in situ synthesis of hybrid gels. Gelatin, collagen, biotin, and l-arginine were used to create hybrid materials with adjustable swelling and elastic properties. Hybrid cryogels tended to swell more than hybrid hydrogels due to their porous nature. Collaged-doped cryogels had the highest swelling, whereas gelatin-doped hybrids showed enhanced elastic modulus. All hybrid gels exhibited pH-sensitive swelling to controlled release applications depending on the degree of protonation of NH₂ and COOH groups in the side chains. At low pH conditions, hybrid cryogels exhibited a higher swelling tendency compared to hydrogels. Ion-stimulus-response of hybrid gels was studied to evaluate the effect of salt concentration and features of ambient ions on swelling. Depending on the polyelectrolytic or polyampholytic nature, the extent of swelling in NaCl and KCl solutions varied according to the charge distribution in the network chains. Hybrid gels showed excellent adsorption performance for methyl orange by the presence of epoxy, hydroxyl groups, amino and carboxyl groups providing sufficient active sites. Adsorption capacity of hybrid cryogels is higher than that of hydrogels. The removal rate 97/%, reached an equilibrium state in a short period, suggested that collagen-doped hybrid cryogels have a potential application to remove dyestuff from wastewater. In relation to the decrease of methyl orange concentration in solution, adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Avrami model has provided a better experimental-calculated fit and adsorption thermodynamics analysis indicated that the adsorption was a spontaneous process with a negative standard free energy. The characteristic findings from this research will provide insights into the design and application of enoate-ester and protein-based combinations in the food, biomedical and cosmetic fields.

Anion Effects on the Supramolecular Self-Assembly of Cationic Phenylalanine Derivatives

Supramolecular hydrogels have emerged as a class of promising biomaterials for applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. Self-assembling peptides have been well studied for such applications, but low molecular weight (LMW) amino acid-derived gelators have attracted interest as low-cost alternatives with similar emergent properties. Fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl-phenylalanine (Fmoc-Phe) is one such privileged motif often chosen due to its inherent self-assembly potential. Previously, we developed cationic Fmoc-Phe-DAP gelators that assemble into hydrogel networks in aqueous NaCl solutions of sufficient ionic strength. The chloride anions in these solutions screen the cationic charge of the gelators to enable self-assembly to occur. Herein, we report the effects of varying the anions of sodium salts on the gelation potential, nanoscale morphology, and hydrogel viscoelastic properties of Fmoc-Phe-DAP and two of its fluorinated derivatives, Fmoc-3F-Phe-DAP and Fmoc-F₅-Phe-DAP. It was observed that both the anion identity and gelator structure had a significant impact on the self-assembly and gelation properties of these derivatives. Changing the anion identity resulted in significant polymorphism of the nanoscale morphology of the assembled states that was dependent on the chemical structure of the gelator. The emergent viscoelastic character of the hydrogel networks was also found to be reliant on the anion identity and gelator structure. These results demonstrate the complex interplay between the gelator and environment that have a profound and often unpredictable impact on both self-assembly properties and emergent viscoelasticity in supramolecular hydrogels formed by LMW compounds. This work also illustrates the current lack of understanding that limits the rational design of potential biomaterials that will be in contact with complex biological fluids and provides motivation for additional research to correlate the chemical structure of LMW gelators with the structure and emergent properties of the resulting supramolecular assemblies as a function of environment.

Synergy of Hofmeister effect and ligand crosslinking enabled the facile fabrication of super-strong, pre-stretching-enhanced gelatin-based hydrogels

Hydrogels are becoming increasingly popular in biomedical and soft machine manufacturing, but their practical application is limited by poor mechanical properties. In recent years, Hofmeister effect-enhanced gelatin hydrogels have become popular. However, the synergy of the Hofmeister effect using other toughening methods is still less investigated. We have fabricated an ultra-high strength gelatin-based hydrogel by introducing ligand cross-linking and hydrogen bonds. Unlike conventional double-network hydrogels, the dense physical cross-linking involving sacrificial bonds gives the hydrogel excellent fatigue resistance and self-recovery properties. The enhancement of mechanical properties by the Hofmeister effect is attributed to the disruption of the hydration shell of the gelatin molecular chains, which leads to stronger interactions between the molecular chains. The mechanical properties of the hydrogels are adjustable over a wide range by varying the concentration of the soaked (NH₄)₂SO₄ solution. The fixation of the gelatin molecular chain orientation by the Hofmeister effect and the reorganization of the coordination bonds allow the hydrogels to be self-reinforced by pre-stretching. At the same time, the modulus contraction of hydrogels in high-concentration salt solutions, and relaxation and swelling in dilute solutions exhibit ionic stimulation responses and shape recovery capability, and hybrid hydrogels have great potential as bio-actuators.

Manta Ray Inspired Soft Robot Fish with Tough Hydrogels as Structural Elements

The design of soft robots capable of navigation underwater has received tremendous research interest due to the robots' versatile applications in marine explorations. Inspired by marine animals such as jellyfish, scientists have developed various soft robotic fishes by using elastomers as the major material. However, elastomers have a hydrophobic network without embedded water, which is different from the gel-state body of the prototypes and results in high contrast to the surrounding environment and thus poor acoustic stealth. Here, we demonstrate a manta ray-inspired soft robot fish with tailored swimming motions by using tough and stiff hydrogels as the structural elements, as well as a dielectric elastomer as the actuating unit. The switching between actuated and relaxed states of this unit under wired power leads to the flapping of the pectoral fins and swimming of the gel fish. This robot fish has good stability and swims with a fast speed (∼10 cm/s) in freshwater and seawater over a wide temperature range (4-50 °C). The high water content (i.e., ∼70 wt %) of the robot fish affords good optical and acoustic stealth properties under water. The excellent mechanical properties of the gels also enable easy integration of other functional units/systems with the robot fish. As proof-of-concept examples, a temperature sensing system and a soft gripper are assembled, allowing the robot fish to monitor the local temperature, raise warning signals by lighting, and grab and transport an object on demand. Such a robot fish should find applications in environmental detection and execution tasks under water. This work should also be informative for the design of other soft actuators and robots with tough hydrogels as the building blocks.

Injectable Hybrid-Crosslinked Hydrogels as Fatigue-Resistant and Shape-Stable Skin Depots

Injectable hydrogels have gained considerable attention, but they are typically mechanically weak and subject to repeated physiological stresses in the body. Herein, we prepared polyurethane diacrylate (EPC-DA) hydrogels, which are injectable and can be photocrosslinked into fatigue-resistant implants. The mechanical properties can be tuned by changing photocrosslinking conditions, and the hybrid-crosslinked EPC-DA hydrogels exhibited high stability and sustained release properties. In contrast to common injectable hydrogels, EPC-DA hydrogels exhibited excellent antifatigue properties with >90% recovery during cyclic compression tests and showed shape stability after application of force and immersion in an aqueous buffer for 35 days. The EPC-DA hydrogel formed a shape-stable hydrogel depot in an ex vivo porcine skin model, with establishment of a temporary soft gel before in situ fixing by UV crosslinking. Hybrid crosslinking using injectable polymeric micelles or nanoparticles may be a general strategy for producing hydrogel implants resistant to physiological stresses.

Toughened Hydrogels for 3D Printing of Soft Auxetic Structures

Materials with negative Poisson's ratio have attracted considerable attention and offered high potential applications as biomedical devices due to their ability to expand in every direction when stretched. Although negative Poisson's ratio has been obtained in various base materials such as metals and polymers, there are very limited works on hydrogels due to their intrinsic brittleness. Herein, we report the use of methacrylated cellulose nanocrystals (CNCMAs) as a macro-cross-linking agent in poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) hydrogels for 3D printing of auxetic structures. Our developed CNCMA-pHEMA hydrogels exhibit significant improvements in mechanical properties, which is attributed to the coexistence of multiple chemical and physical interactions between the pHEMA and CNCMAs. Structures printed by using CNCMA-pHEMA hydrogels show auxetic behavior with greatly enhanced toughness and stretchability compared to the hydrogel with a traditional cross-linking agent. Such strong and tough auxetic hydrogels would contribute toward establishing advanced flexible implantable devices such as biodegradable oesophageal self-expandable stents.