Dear Readers,

This week’s edition includes two news articles and three research papers. It’s sad to see so little news coverage on hydrogels. And it’s a pity because the general audience are missing out on the latest developments; They don’t crawl Google Scholar to read research papers like the academic community does.

If you have a hydrogel publication that you’d like to share with the readers of this newsletter, do reply with the DOI and I’ll gladly feature it. Also do remember to ask your friends and colleagues to subscribe to this newsletter. Thanks!

In The News

Research Updates

Gelatin/Hyaluronic Acid Photocrosslinked Double Network Hydrogel with Nano-Hydroxyapatite Composite for Potential Application in Bone Repair (Link)

• A composite hydrogel was formed by photocrosslinking a double network of methylacrylylated gelatin and hyaluronic acid with dispersed nano-hydroxyapatite particles.

• The composite hydrogel showed improved mechanical strength, injectability, swelling ratio, and water content compared to single network hydrogels of gelatin or hyaluronic acid alone.

• It also exhibited good cytocompatibility with bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), supporting their survival and proliferation on its surface.

• The hydrogels developed in this work mimic the bone extracellular matrix and has promising prospects for bone defect treatment.

Carboxymethyl Chitosan/Polyvinyl Alcohol Double Network Hydrogels Prepared By Freeze-Thawing And Calcium Chloride Cross-linking For Efficient Dye Adsorption (Link)

• A novel double network hydrogel made of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for efficient dye adsorption was developed.

• The hydrogel was prepared by freeze-thawing and calcium chloride cross-linking, forming a primary network of CMCS-PVA entanglement and a secondary network of CMCS-Ca2+ ionic bonding.

• It also exhibited excellent adsorption performance for anionic dye Acid Blue 93 (AB), following pseudo-second-order kinetics and inhomogeneous multilayer adsorption isotherm.

• This hydrogel is a potential adsorbent for the removal of dye pollutants from wastewater, especially in the food industry.

Natural Polymer-Based Hydrogels: From Polymer to Biomedical Application (Link)

• This review article covers natural polymer-based hydrogels for biomedical applications.

• Commonly used natural polymers include cellulose, chitosan, collagen/gelatin, alginate, hyaluronic acid, and starch.

• Various gelation methods to form natural polymer-based hydrogels are summarized: physical cross-linking, chemical cross-linking, self-assembly, and ionic gelation.

• Biomedical applications discussed: drug carriers for controlled release, wound dressings for moist environment and antibacterial effect, and scaffolds for cell adhesion and tissue regeneration.

• The article discusses the future perspectives and challenges of natural polymer-based hydrogels, such as developing novel natural polymers or derivatives, designing multifunctional composite hydrogels, and exploring new fabrication techniques.

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