Soy Protein Isolate/Genipin-Based Nanoparticles for the Stabilization of Pickering Emulsion to Design Self-Healing Guar Gum-Based Hydrogels

Abstract

Nowadays, stretchable self-healing hydrogels designed by biomass-based materials have gathered remarkable attention in numerous frontier fields such as wound healing, health monitoring issues, and electronic skin. In this study, soy protein isolate (SPI), a common plant protein, was cross-linked to nanoparticles (SPI NPs) by Genipin, (Gen) which was attracted from the native Geniposide. Oil-in-water (O/W) Pickering emulsion was formed by SPI NPs wrapping the linseed oil, and further implanted into poly(acrylic acid)/guar gum (PAA/GG)-based self-healing hydrogels by multiple reversible weak interactions. With the addition of Pickering emulsion, the hydrogels have achieved a remarkable self-healing ability (self-healing efficiency could reach 91.6% within 10 h) and mechanical properties (tensile strength of 0.89 MPa and strain of 853.2%). Therefore, these hydrogels with good reliable durability have outstanding application prospects in sustainable materials.