Cellulose nanocrystals reinforced highly stretchable thermal-sensitive hydrogel with ultra-high drug loading

Tianxing Chen; Yuan Yang; Hui Peng; Andrew K Whittaker; Yao Li; Qinglan Zhao; Yu Wang; Shenmin Zhu; Zhaoyang Wang

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118122

Cellulose nanocrystals reinforced highly stretchable thermal-sensitive hydrogel with ultra-high drug loading

Carbohydr Polym. 2021 Aug 15:266:118122. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118122. Epub 2021 Apr 27.

Authors

Tianxing Chen¹, Yuan Yang², Hui Peng³, Andrew K Whittaker³, Yao Li¹, Qinglan Zhao⁴, Yu Wang⁵, Shenmin Zhu⁶, Zhaoyang Wang⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.
³ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
⁴ School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
⁵ Shanghai Yuking Water Soluble Material Tech., ltd., Shanghai 201318, People's Republic of China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: smzhu@sjtu.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: zhaokekewzy@hotmail.com.

PMID: 34044938
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.118122

Abstract

Hydrogels often have poor mechanical properties which limit their application in load-bearing tissues such as muscle and cartilage. In this work, a near-infrared light-triggered stretchable thermal-sensitive hydrogel with ultra-high drug loading was developed by a combination of natural polymeric nanocrystals, a network of synthetic thermo-responsive polymer, and magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The hydrogels comprise cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) decorated with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄/CNCs) dispersed homogeneously in poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) networks. The composite hydrogels exhibit an extensibility of 2200%. Drug loading of vancomycin (VCM) reached a high value of 10.18 g g^-1 due to the dispersion of Fe₃O₄/CNCs and the interactions between the CNCs and the PNIPAm network. Importantly, the hydrogels demonstrated a thermo-response triggered by NIR, with the temperature increasing from 26 to 41 °C within 60 s. The hydrogels have high biocompatibility evidenced by cell proliferation tests, illustrating that these hydrogels are promising as dressings for wound closure, and wound healing.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystal; Mechanical property; NIR-triggered on-demand drug release; Photothermal agent; Thermo-responsive hydrogel.

MeSH terms

Acrylic Resins / chemistry
Acrylic Resins / radiation effects
Acrylic Resins / toxicity
Cellulose / chemistry*
Cellulose / radiation effects
Cellulose / toxicity
Drug Carriers / chemistry*
Drug Carriers / radiation effects
Drug Carriers / toxicity
Drug Liberation
HEK293 Cells
Humans
Hydrogels / chemistry*
Hydrogels / radiation effects
Hydrogels / toxicity
Infrared Rays
Magnetite Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Magnetite Nanoparticles / radiation effects
Magnetite Nanoparticles / toxicity
Nanocomposites / chemistry
Nanocomposites / radiation effects
Nanocomposites / toxicity
Porosity
Temperature
Vancomycin / chemistry

Substances

Acrylic Resins
Drug Carriers
Hydrogels
Magnetite Nanoparticles
poly-N-isopropylacrylamide
Vancomycin
Cellulose