Mechanical and biological behavior of double network hydrogels reinforced with alginate versus gellan gum
Files
(Published version)
Date
2024
Authors
Ajam, A.
Huang, Y.
Islam, M.S.
Kilian, K.A.
Kruzic, J.J.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 2024; 157:106642-1-106642-10
Statement of Responsibility
Alaa Ajam, Yuwan Huang, Md Shariful Islam, Kristopher A. Kilian, Jamie J. Kruzic
Conference Name
Abstract
Alginate and gellan gum have both been used by researchers as reinforcing networks to create tough and biocompatible polyethylene glycol (PEG) based double network (DN) hydrogels; however, the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach are not understood. This study directly compares the mechanical and biological properties of polyethylene glycol di-methacrylate (PEGDMA) hybrid DN hydrogels reinforced with either gellan gum or sodium alginate using PEGDMA concentrations from 10 to 20 wt% and reinforcing network concentrations of 1 and 2 wt%. The findings demonstrate that gellan gum reinforcement is more effective at increasing the strength, stiffness, and toughness of PEGDMA DN hydrogels. In contrast, alginate reinforcement yields DN hydrogels with greater stretchability compared to gellan gum reinforced PEGDMA. Furthermore, separate measurements of toughness via unnotched work of rupture testing and notched fracture toughness testing showed a strong correlation of these two properties for a single reinforcing network type, but not across the two types of reinforcing networks. This suggests that additional notched fracture toughness experiments are important for understanding the full mechanical response when comparing different tough DN hydrogel systems. Regarding the biological response, after conjugation of matrix protein to the surface of both materials robust cell attachment and spreading was supported with higher yes associated protein (YAP) nuclear expression observed in populations adhering to the stiffer gellan gum-PEGDMA material. This study provides valuable insights regarding how to design double network hydrogels for specific property requirements, e.g., for use in biomedical devices, as scaffolding for tissue engineering, or in soft robotic applications.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).