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Highly Dynamic Nanocomposite Hydrogels Self‐Assembled by Metal Ion‐Ligand Coordination
Author(s) -
Zhang Kunyu,
Yuan Weihao,
Wei Kongchang,
Yang Boguang,
Chen Xiaoyu,
Li Zhuo,
Zhang Zhiyong,
Bian Liming
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201900242
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , materials science , metal ions in aqueous solution , nanocomposite , metal , ligand (biochemistry) , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , ion , aqueous solution , doping , polymer chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , metallurgy , optoelectronics , engineering , biochemistry , receptor
Hydrogels are emerging biomaterials with desirable physicochemical characteristics. Doping of metal ions such as Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and Fe 2+ provides the hydrogels with unique attributes, including bioactivity, conductivity, and tunability. Traditionally, this doping is achieved by the interaction between metal ions and corresponding ligands or the direct incorporation of as‐prepared metal‐based nanoparticles (NPs). However, these approaches rely on a complex and laborious preparation and are typically restricted to few selected ion species. Herein, by mixing aqueous solutions of ligands (bisphosphonates, BPs), polymer grafted with ligands, and metal ions, a series of self‐assembled metallic‐ion nanocomposite hydrogels that are stabilized by the in situ formed ligand‐metal ion (BP‐M) NPs are prepared. Owing to the universal coordination between BPs and multivalent metal ions, the strategy is highly versatile and can be generalized for a wide array of metal ions. Such hydrogels exhibit a wide spectrum of mechanical properties and remarkable dynamic properties, such as excellent injectability, rapid stress relaxation, efficient ion diffusion, and triggered disassembly for harvesting encapsulated cells. Meanwhile, the hydrogels can be conveniently coated or patterned onto the surface of metals via electrophoresis. This work presents a universal strategy to prepare designer nanocomposite materials with highly tunable and dynamic behaviors.