TY - JOUR
T1 - Tough Engineering Hydrogels Based on Swelling−Freeze−Thaw Method for Artificial Cartilage
AU - Hao, Mingming
AU - Wang, Yongfeng
AU - Li, Lianhui
AU - Liu, Yinhang
AU - Bai, Yuanyuan
AU - Zhou, Weifan
AU - Lu, Qifeng
AU - Sun, Fuqin
AU - Li, Lili
AU - Feng, Simin
AU - Wei, Wei
AU - Zhang, Ting
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/6/8
Y1 - 2022/6/8
N2 - Articular cartilage, which exhibits toughness and ultralow friction even under high squeezing pressures, plays an important role in the daily movement of joints. However, joint soft tissue lesions or injuries caused by diseases, trauma, or human functional decline are inevitable. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels, which have a water content and compressive strength similar to those of many tissues and organs, have the potential to replace tough connective tissues, including cartilage. However, currently, PVA hydrogels are not suitable for complex dynamic environments and lack rebound resilience, especially under long-term or multicycle mechanical loads. Inspired by biological tissues that exhibit increased mechanical strength after swelling, we report a tough engineered hydrogel (TEHy) fabricated by swelling and freeze−thaw methods with a high compressive strength (31 MPa), high toughness (1.17 MJ m−3), a low friction coefficient (0.01), and a low energy loss factor (0.22). Notably, the TEHy remained remarkably resilient after 100 000 cycles of contact extrusion and remains intact after being compressed by an automobile with a weight of approximately 1600 kg. The TEHy also exhibited excellent water swelling resistance (volume and weight changes less than 5%). Moreover, skeletal muscle cells were able to readily attach and proliferate on the surface of TEHy-6, suggesting its outstanding biocompatibility. Overall, this swelling and freeze−thaw strategy solves the antifatigue and stability problems of PVA hydrogels under large static loads (>10 000 N) and provides an avenue to fabricate engineering hydrogels with strong antifatigue and antiswelling properties and ultralow friction for potential use as biomaterials in tissue engineering.
AB - Articular cartilage, which exhibits toughness and ultralow friction even under high squeezing pressures, plays an important role in the daily movement of joints. However, joint soft tissue lesions or injuries caused by diseases, trauma, or human functional decline are inevitable. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels, which have a water content and compressive strength similar to those of many tissues and organs, have the potential to replace tough connective tissues, including cartilage. However, currently, PVA hydrogels are not suitable for complex dynamic environments and lack rebound resilience, especially under long-term or multicycle mechanical loads. Inspired by biological tissues that exhibit increased mechanical strength after swelling, we report a tough engineered hydrogel (TEHy) fabricated by swelling and freeze−thaw methods with a high compressive strength (31 MPa), high toughness (1.17 MJ m−3), a low friction coefficient (0.01), and a low energy loss factor (0.22). Notably, the TEHy remained remarkably resilient after 100 000 cycles of contact extrusion and remains intact after being compressed by an automobile with a weight of approximately 1600 kg. The TEHy also exhibited excellent water swelling resistance (volume and weight changes less than 5%). Moreover, skeletal muscle cells were able to readily attach and proliferate on the surface of TEHy-6, suggesting its outstanding biocompatibility. Overall, this swelling and freeze−thaw strategy solves the antifatigue and stability problems of PVA hydrogels under large static loads (>10 000 N) and provides an avenue to fabricate engineering hydrogels with strong antifatigue and antiswelling properties and ultralow friction for potential use as biomaterials in tissue engineering.
KW - biomaterial
KW - cell incubation
KW - hydrogels
KW - poly(vinyl alcohol)
KW - swelling−freeze−thaw
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131771900&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.2c02990
DO - 10.1021/acsami.2c02990
M3 - Article
C2 - 35606333
AN - SCOPUS:85131771900
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 14
SP - 25093
EP - 25103
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 22
ER -