EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Wound healing of degenerated cartilage tissues, is a complex and challenging biological process.[1] To support the healing process, a potential synthetic material has to fulfill requirements such as biocompatibility and biodegradability. In recent years, hydrogels gained increased interest in tissue regeneration being biocompatible and encouraging the proliferation of specific cell types.[2] In previous studies, we have already shown that non-degradable hydrogels own antibacterial and biocompatible properties towards Staphylococcus aureus Xen 30, Pseudomonas aeruginosa Xen 5 and L929 mouse fibroblasts, respectively.[3]

In this study, biodegradable hydrogels consisting of 3 sulfopropylmethacrylate potassium (MASO3) and N,N′ (1,2 dihydroxyethylene)bisacrylamide (DHEBA) were prepared via radical polymerization using N,N,N′,N′ tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) and ammonium persulfate (APS) as a radical initiation mixture. The degradation process of these hydrogels were investigated depending on the pH, temperature and composition. We could observe degradation times from a few hours up to over a month. Further, we focus on the biocompatibility of the hydrogels as well as their degraded products and analyze their degradation products via mass spectrometry.

[1] S. Shafei, M. Khanmohammadi, S. Farzamfar, M. Akbariqomi, N. S. Sanikhani, M. Absalan, G. Tavoosidana. Exosome loaded alginate hydrogel promotes tissue regeneration in full‐thickness skin wounds. J Biomed Mater Res. 2020; 108A: 545– 556.

[2] N. Selvan, T. S. Kalai, T. S. Shanmugarajan, V. N. V. A. Uppuluri. Hydrogel based scaffolding polymeric biomaterials. J. Drug Deliv. Sci. Technol. 2020, 55, 101456.

[3] a) J. Claus, A. Brietzke, C. Lehnert, S. Oschatz, N. Grabow, U. Kragl. Swelling characteristics and biocompatibility of ionic liquid based hydrogels for biomedical applications. PLoS ONE 2020, 15, e0231421; b) J. Claus, A. Jastram, E. Piktel, R. Bucki, P. Janmey, U. Kragl. Polymerized ionic l iquids‐based hydrogels with intrinsic antibacterial activity. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2021, 138, 16, 50222.