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- Title
Tuning the Hydrophobicity of a Hydrogel Using Self-Assembled Domains of Polymer Cross-Linkers.
- Authors
Kim, Hee-Jin; Cho, Sungwoo; Oh, Seung Joo; Shin, Sung Gyu; Ryu, Hee Wook; Jeong, Jae Hyun
- Abstract
Hydrogels incorporated with hydrophobic motifs have received considerable attention to recapitulate the cellular microenvironments, specifically for the bio-mineralization of a 3D matrix. Introduction of hydrophobic molecules into a hydrogel often results in irregular arrangement of the motifs, and further phase separation of hydrophobic domains, but limited efforts have been made to resolve this challenge in developing the hydrophobically-modified hydrogel. Therefore, this study presents an advanced integrative strategy to incorporate hydrophobic domains regularly in a hydrogel using self-assembled domains formed with polymer cross-linkers, building blocks of a hydrogel. Self-assemblies formed by polymer cross-linkers were examined as micro-domains to incorporate hydrophobic motifs in a hydrogel. The self-assembled structures in a pre-gelled solution were confirmed with the fluorescence analysis and the hydrophobicity of a hydrogel could be tuned by incorporating the hydrophobic chains in a controlled manner. Overall, the results of this study would greatly serve to tuning performance of a wide array of hydrophobically-modified hydrogels in drug delivery, cell therapies and tissue engineering.
- Subjects
HYDROGELS; MOLECULAR self-assembly; CROSSLINKING (Polymerization); PHASE separation; HYDROPHOBIC compounds
- Publication
Materials (1996-1944), 2019, Vol 12, Issue 10, p1635
- ISSN
1996-1944
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/ma12101635