Investigation of double network hydrogel with controllable swelling behavior by response surface methodology

Abstract

ABSTRACTHydrogel with high swelling ratio is extremely bad for its application in tissue engineering, which drastically degrades its mechanical properties and generates greater pressure on surrounding tissues. In this work, it is found that the swelling behavior of gelatin/acrylamide acrylate copolymer‐Fe3+ hydrogels is highly depended on Fe3+ concentration and acrylic acid content. In order to know the swelling mechanism and optimize the nonswellable condition, a mathematical model is built based on response surface methodology. Herein, the computational data are in good correspondence to experimental results by combining the theoretical with experimental results. The hydrogels can endure a compressive stress up to 18 megapascals at 90% strain and maintain good shape recovery under multiple cycle compression. Our results demonstrate that swelling behavior of double network hydrogels can be controlled and the suppression of swelling is conducive to hydrogel with good mechanical strength under physiological conditions. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020, 137, 48805.