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Thermoresponsive behavior and rheology of SiO 2 –hyaluronic acid/poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) ( NaHA / PNIPAm ) core–shell structured microparticles
Author(s) -
Li Xiangye,
Chen Ruting,
Xu Shouhong,
Liu Honglai,
Hu Ying
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.4308
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , rheology , polymer , poly(n isopropylacrylamide) , chemical engineering , dynamic light scattering , materials science , dynamic mechanical analysis , chemistry , polymer chemistry , composite material , copolymer , nanotechnology , nanoparticle , engineering
BACKGROUND Injectable polymer gels for tissue engineering offer specific advantages over preformed scaffolds. They can transform from a sol to a block gel as a response to an external stimulus. One effective strategy for improving the mechanical strength of a gel is to introduce an inorganic material. RESULTS Microparticles composed of a hard SiO 2 core covered with a thermoresponsive hybrid gel (sodium hyaluronate/poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide); NaHA / PNIPAm ) were synthesized. The microparticles were characterized by dynamic light‐scattering and transmission electron microscopy; rheological measurements were also performed. The microparticles were perfectly spherical and had a core–shell structure. They can perform a sol–gel transformation, that is, they shrank and assembled to form a macroscopic hydrogel through physical cross‐linking at the gelation temperature ( T gel ), which was determined by rheological measurements. The T gel was adjusted by changing the concentration of microparticles or Ca 2+ ions. CONCLUSION The introduction of NaHA and SiO 2 improved the mechanical properties of the macroscopic gels. The rigidity and stability of the macroscopic gel were controlled by the molecular weight of NaHA and the amount of PNIPAm . Such injectable hydrogels might have potential as scaffold biomaterials, and are expected to be the ‘ink’ for three‐dimensional bioprinters. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry