A double-network porous hydrogel based on high internal phase emulsions as a vehicle for potassium sucrose octasulfate delivery accelerates diabetic wound healing

Diabetic wounds are a difficult medical challenge.Excessive secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9)in diabetic wounds further degrades the extracellular matrix and growth factors and causes severe vascular damage,which seriously hinders diabetic wound healing.To solve these issues,a double-network porous hydrogel composed of poly(methyl methacrylate-co-acrylamide)(p(MMA-co-AM))and polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)was constructed by the high internal phase emulsion(HIPE)technique for the delivery of potassium sucrose octasulfate(PSO),a drug that can inhibit MMPs,increase angiogenesis and improve microcirculation.The hydrogel possessed a typical polyHIPE hierarchical microstructure with interconnected porous morphologies,high porosity,high specific surface area,excellent mechanical properties and suitable swelling properties.Meanwhile,the p(MMA-co-AM)/PVA@PSO hydrogel showed high drug-loading performance and effective PSO release.In addition,both in vitro and in vivo studies showed that the p(MMA-co-AM)/PVA@PSO hydrogel had good biocompatibility and significantly accelerated diabetic wound healing by inhibiting excessive MMP-9 in diabetic wounds,increasing growth factor secretion,improving vascularization,increasing collagen deposition and promoting re-epithelialization.Therefore,this study provided a reliable therapeutic strategy for diabetic wound healing,some theoretical basis and new insights for the rational design and preparation of wound hydrogel dressings with high porosity,high drug-loading performance and excellent mechanical properties.

TEMPERATURE AND pH RESPONSE,AND SWELLING BEHAVIOR OF POROUS ACRYLONITRILE-ACRYLIC ACID COPOLYMER HYDROGELS

Macroporous acrylonitrile-acrylic acid （AN-AA） copolymer hydrogels were synthesized by flee-radical solution polymerizations, using ammonium persulfate （APS）/N,N,N＇,N＇-tetramethylethylenediamine （TEMED） redox initiator system and alcohols porogens. The morphology, temperature and pH sensitive swelling behavior, and swelling kinetics of the resulting hydrogels were investigated. It was found that alcohol type and concentration had great influences on the pore structure and porosity of hydrogels. The pore size of hydrogel increases with the moderate increase of the length of alcohol alkyl chain. However, a further increase of alkyl length would result in the formation of cauliflower-like structure and the decrease of pore size. The porosity of hydrogels increases with the increase of porogen concentration in the polymerization medium. The hydrogels with macroporous structure swell or shrink much faster in response to the change of pH in comparison with the conventional hydrogel without macroporous structure. Furthermore, the response rate is closely related to the porosity of the hydrogels, which could be easily controlled by modulating the concentration of the porogen in the medium. The circular swelling behavior of hydrogels indicated the formation of a relaxing three-dimensional network.

Wearable pressure sensors based on antibacterial and porous chitosan hydrogels for full-range human motion detection

Wearable pressure sensors made from conductive hydrogels hold significant potential in health monitoring.However,limited pressure range(Pa to hundreds of kPa)and inadequate antibacterial properties restrict their practical applications in diagnostic and health evaluation.Herein,a wearable high-performance pressure sensor was assembled using a facilely prepared porous chitosan-based hydrogel,which was constructed from commercial phenolphthalein particles as a sacrificial template.The relationship between the porosity of hydrogels and sensing performance of sensors was systematically explored.Herein,the wearable pressure sensor,featuring an optimized porosity of hydrogels,exhibits an ultrawide sensing capacity from 4.83 Pa to 250 k Pa(range-to-limit ratio of 51,760)and high sensitivity throughout high pressure ranges(0.7 kPa~(-1),120–250 kPa).The presence of chitosan endows these hydrogels with outstanding antibacterial performance against E.coli and S.aureus,making them ideal candidates for use in wearable electronics.These features allow for a practical approach to monitor full-range human motion using a single device with a simple structure.

High-performance Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)achieved by polyaniline intercalation and gelatinization as a high-energy cathode for zinc-ion capacitor

The actual manufacture of supercapacitors(SCs)is restricted by the inadequate energy density,and the energy density of devices can be properly promoted by assembling zinc-ion capacitors(ZICs)which used capacitive cathode and battery-type anode.Two-dimensional(2D)MXene has brought great focuses in the electrode research on the foundation of large redox-active surface,but the specific capacitance is still affected by the tight stacking of interlaminations.Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)@polyaniline(PANI)heterostructures are prepared by uniformly depositing the conductive polymer PANI nanorods as the intercalation agent into the external of Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)nanosheets to inhibit stacking.Subsequently,by using graphene oxide(GO)-assisted low-temperature hydrothermal self-assembly manufacture,2D heterostructures are assembled into the three-dimensional(3D)porous crosslinked Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)@PANI-reduced graphene oxide(RGO)hydrogels.Attributed to the synergistic work of PANI nanorods,Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(X)nanosheets,and 3D crosslinking frameworks of RGO to match capacitive and battery effects,3D porous hierarchical Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)@PANI-RGO heterostructure hydrogels have rich ion transport channels,a large number of active sites,and excellent reaction kinetics.ZIC is assembled by using Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)@PANI-RGO heterostructure hydrogels as cathodes and zinc foil as anodes.In this work,Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)@PANI-RGO//Zn ZIC exhibits a wide working window(2.0 V),marked specific capacitance(589.89 F·g^(−1)at 0.5 A·g−1),salient energy density(327.71 Wh·kg^(−1)at 513.61 W·kg^(−1)and 192.20 Wh·kg^(−1)at 13,005.87 W·kg^(−1)),and durable cycling stability(97.87%capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 10 A·g^(−1)).This study emphasizes the device design of ZICs and the broad prospect of Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)-based hydrogels as viable cathodes for ZICs.