PAA Hydrogels Research Articles

Simple yet effective methods to probe hydrogel stiffness for mechanobiology

In spite of tremendous advances made in the comprehension of mechanotransduction, implementation of mechanobiology assays remains challenging for the broad community of cell biologists. Hydrogel substrates with tunable stiffness are essential tool in mechanobiology, allowing to investigate the effects of mechanical signals on cell behavior. A bottleneck that slows down the popularization of hydrogel formulations for mechanobiology is the assessment of their stiffness, typically requiring expensive and sophisticated methodologies in the domain of material science. Here we overcome such barriers offering the reader protocols to set-up and interpret two straightforward, low cost and high-throughput tools to measure hydrogel stiffness: static macroindentation and micropipette aspiration. We advanced on how to build up these tools and on the underlying theoretical modeling. Specifically, we validated our tools by comparing them with leading techniques used for measuring hydrogel stiffness (atomic force microscopy, uniaxial compression and rheometric analysis) with consistent results on PAA hydrogels or their modification. In so doing, we also took advantage of YAP/TAZ nuclear localization as biologically validated and sensitive readers of mechanosensing, all in all presenting a suite of biologically and theoretically proven protocols to be implemented in most biological laboratories to approach mechanobiology.

Porous reticular CuO/ZnO/CeO2/ZrO2 catalyst derived from polyacrylic acid hydrogel system on Al2O3 foam ceramic support for methanol steam reforming microreactor

A hydrophilic polyacrylic acid hydrogel was formed in the millimeter-sized pores of Al2O3 foam ceramic by the polymerization of acrylic acid, and a large amount of nitrates precursor solution was adsorbed by the hydrogel via vacuum impregnation. A porous reticular CuO/ZnO/CeO2/ZrO2 catalyst with fine and uniform particles was obtained after 500 °C calcination. The ceramic loaded with pristine PAA hydrogel and loaded with absorbed hydrogel after 300 °C and 500 °C calcination were characterized to illustrate the formation mechanism of catalyst structure. The ceramic after 500 °C calcination was applied in a microreactor as catalyst support for methanol steam reforming to investigate the catalytic performance. Results showed that the porous reticular catalyst reduced the size of the catalytic channels and increased the number of effective catalytic channels simultaneously, resulting in a 100% methanol conversion rate, 0.288 mol/h H2 yield at 300 °C and an inlet methanol flow rate of 0.096 mol/h.

A High Strength Hydrogel with a Core–Shell Structure Simultaneously Serving as Strain Sensor and Solar Water Evaporator

AbstractA super‐strong poly (acrylic acid)‐ poly(3,4‐ethylene dioxythiophene) (PAA‐PEDOT) hydrogel with a unique core‐shell structure is successfully constructed and studied. The shell composed of the conductive polymer PEDOT makes the composite hydrogel possess mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and photothermal conversion properties, while the PAA hydrogel core ensures the flexibility, recovery, and water absorption of the composite hydrogel. The prepared PAA‐PEDOT hydrogel displays outstanding tensile strength (up to 780 KPa) and satisfactory conductivity (6.6 S m−1). Notably, the flexible strain sensor made of PAA‐PEDOT composite hydrogel presents both high sensitivity (gauge factor up to 8.87) and short response time (<200 ms), demonstrating that the composite hydrogel can accurately and timely detect the movement of human joints. In addition, PAA‐PEDOT composite hydrogel also has excellent photothermal conversion properties and can be used as a highly efficient solar water evaporator, which has a water evaporation efficiency of up to 3.05 kg m−2 h and an excellent photothermal conversion efficiency of 95% under 1‐sun irradiation (1kW m−2). These features make the composite hydrogel has great potential in many fields such as motion sensing, seawater desalination, and wastewater treatment.

An oriented Fe3+-regulated lignin-based hydrogel with desired softness, conductivity, stretchability, and asymmetric adhesiveness towards anti-interference pressure sensors

The development of conductive, soft, ultra-stretchable, and asymmetrically adhesive hydrogels is difficult and essential for both wearable electronics and anti-adhesion tissue dressings. In particular, there is still no simple, effective and universal approach to construct an asymmetrically adhesive multifunctional hydrogel. Here, we first synthesized lignosulfonate sodium (LS)-doped PAA hydrogels with uniform adhesion (adhesive strength: ~30.5 kPa), conductivity (~0.45 S/m), stretchability (up to ~2250%), and low compressive modulus (~20 kPa). In the second step, an oriented soaking of Fe3+ onto the upper surface of the resultant composite hydrogel renders the upper surface non-adhesive. This novel strategy masterfully delivers asymmetric adhesion behavior to the upper and bottom surfaces of the same hydrogel (~0 kPa adhesive strength for the upper surface; strong adhesive strength of ~27 kPa for the bottom surface). The asymmetric adhesive hydrogel has proven to adhere well onto the human skin and achieve waste-barrier. Importantly, this hydrogel assembled pressure sensor demonstrates excellent anti-interference and wearable comfort.

The behavior and mechanism of the adsorption of Pb(II) and Cd(II) by a porous double network porous hydrogel derived from peanut shells

Adsorption has been deemed as one of the most efficient technologies for the removal of heavy metals from water because of its diversity of adsorbents, low cost, and simple operation. In this study, acrylic acid underwent free radical polymerization in an aqueous solution of lignocellulose extracted from peanut shells (PS) to form a porous double network hydrogel adsorbent, PS(H)-PAA. The PS(H)-PAA hydrogel had high water permeability and a porous network structure, which could provide a fast channel for metal ions diffusion from solution into hydrogel and gave rise to good adsorption performance. The adsorption process of heavy metal ions on the PS(H)-PAA hydrogel was identified to be a spontaneous endothermic adsorption and reached kinetic equilibrium within only 10 min for Pb(II) and 60 min for Cd(II) at an initial concentration of 100 mg/L using 0.5 g/L of adsorbent. According to a Langmuir model, at T =313 K the maximum theoretical adsorption capacities were as high as 250.42 and 109.89 mg/g for Pb(II) (pH 5) and Cd(II) (pH 6), respectively. Moreover, a PS(H)-PAA hydrogel showed good adsorption performance over a pH range of 4–9. The surface properties, dimensional morphology, and thermal stability of the adsorbents were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and derivative thermogravimetry. The adsorption behavior under different conditions (such as pH, contact time, ion strength, and interfering ions) and the adsorption mechanism were studied. The adsorption mechanism indicated that oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional groups play a major role in the adsorption process, primarily through chemical interactions, and secondarily through physical interactions. In addition, these adsorbents exhibited strong chemical stability, had very high swelling ratios in water, and could be recycled easily. These results indicate the developed PS(H)-PAA hydrogel is an environmentally friendly and potentially effective adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals.

Magnetic poly(acrylic acid)-based hydrogels for rapid ammonium sorption and efficient sorbent separation from sewage

Ammonium sorption and recovery processes typically take place in conventional packed columns, with a configuration that enables maximum sorption by the sorbents. However, batch or semi-continuous operations in packed columns have associated issues such as scaling and frequent backwashing requirements, which are economically prohibitive. As an alternative, ammonium sorption could occur in well-mixed continuously stirred tanks, which would allow for the ammonium sorption process to be retrofitted in existing wastewater treatment plants, provided that efficient sorbent separation can be achieved. This study demonstrates, for the first time, the preparation of magnetic poly(acrylic acid)-based (PAA) ammonium sorbents through the incorporation of magnetic (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (MNP) produced via scalable and cost-effective electrochemical synthesis. The MNP and PAA hydrogels were synthesized independently and the MNPs subsequently integrated into the PAA hydrogel network by particle diffusion and physical entrapment. No adverse effects on swelling and ammonium sorption following immersion in either synthetic or real sewage were observed after MNPs were incorporated into the hydrogels. Importantly, PAA-MNP hydrogels demonstrated high ammonium sorption efficiencies (80–93%) in real sewage and achieved rapid ammonium recovery of 73 ± 1.1% within 15 min of mild acid washing (pH 4) 15 min at a maximum recovery.

Synergy coordination of cellulose-based dialdehyde and carboxyl with Fe3+ recoverable conductive self-healing hydrogel for sensor

A novel dual ionic network cellulose-based composite conductive self-healing hydrogel was fabricated with high elongation, rapid recoverability, high conductive sensitivity, self-healing ability and good biocompatibility. The hydrogel was constructed by the synergistic complexations of new-fashioned bidentate aldehyde groups on dialdehyde cellulose nanofibers (DACNFs) and carboxyl groups of acrylic acid (AA) with Fe3+. The elongation (~1300%) of the hydrogel containing 1 wt% DACNFs was approximate 13-fold of the pure PAA hydrogel and can recover to original state within 2 min after 80% compression. The self-healing efficiency increased with the addition of DACNFs in the dual ionic network cellulose-based composite conductive self-healing hydrogel. The hydrogel configured for a wearable test and showed high stretching sensitivity with a gauge factor of 13.82 at strain within 1.6%. The gauge factor (GF) decrease with the incremental strain within 20%. GF were 0.696 between 20% and 300% strain, 0.837 within 300% and 500%. Meanwhile, the current had a good linear relationship with the bending angles of hydrogels and pressure on hydrogels, which may provide a great potential in monitor both minor variations and large movements.

Topologically Enhanced Dual-Network Hydrogels with Rapid Recovery for Low-Hysteresis, Self-Adhesive Epidemic Electronics.

Dual-network conductive hydrogels have drawn wide attention in epidemic electronics such as epidemic sensors and electrodes because of their inherent low Young's modulus, high skin-compliance, and tunable mechanical strength. However, it is still full of challenges to gain a dual-network hydrogel with high stretchability, low hysteresis, and skin-adhesive performance simultaneously. Herein, to address this issue, a novel dual-network hydrogel (denoted as PAa hydrogel) with polyacrylamide as the first network and topologically entangled polydopamine as the secondary network was prepared through a facile gel-phase in situ self-polymerization and soaking treatment. Benefiting from the topological enhancement as well as the synergetic effects of hydrogen bonds and metal coordination bonds, low modulus (∼10 kPa), excellent stretchability (1090.8%), high compression (90%), negligible hysteresis (η = 0.019, energy loss coefficient), rapid recovery in seconds, and self-adhesion are obtained in the PAa hydrogels. To demonstrate their practical use, a states-independent and skin-adhesive epidemic sensor was successfully attached on human skin for motion detection. What is more, by using the hydrogel as an epidemic electrode, electromyogram signals were accurately detected and wirelessly transmitted to a smart phone. This work offers a new insight to understand the strengthening mechanism of dual network hydrogels and a design strategy for both epidemic sensors and electrodes.

Recovered Energy from Salinity Gradients Utilizing Various Poly(Acrylic Acid)-Based Hydrogels.

Hydrogels can be utilized to extract energy from salinity gradients when river water mixes with seawater. Saline-sensitive hydrogels exhibit a reversible swelling/shrinking process when they are, alternately, exposed to fresh and saline water. We present a comparison of several poly(acrylic acid)-based hydrogels, including poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), poly(acrylic acid-co-vinylsulfonic acid) (PAA/PVSA), and poly(4-styrenessulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) interpenetrated in a poly(acrylic acid) network (PAA/PSSA-MA). The hydrogels were synthesized by free radical polymerization, copolymerization, and by semi-IPN (interpenetrating polymer network). The hydrogels were placed in a piston-like system to measure the recovered energy. Semi-IPN hydrogels exhibit a much higher recovered energy compared to the copolymer and PAA hydrogel. The recovered energy of 60 g swollen gel was up to 4 J for the PAA/PSSA-MA hydrogel. The obtained energy per gram dried gel was up to 13.3 J/g. The swelling volume of the hydrogels was maintained for 30 cycles without decline in recovered energy.

Preparation and Characterization of Ionic Conductive Poly(acrylic Acid)-Based Silicone Hydrogels for Smart Drug Delivery System.

In this study, we developed a smart drug delivery system that can efficiently deliver the required amounts of drugs using the excellent ion conductivity of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and an electrical stimulus. As a result of its having carboxyl groups, PAA hydrogel can be used in drug delivery patches to release drugs by ionic conductivity. However, PAA hydrogel has low durability and poor mechanical properties. The carboxyl group of PAA was combined with a siloxane group of silicone using electron-beam irradiation to easily form a crosslinked structure. The PAA–silicone hydrogel has excellent mechanical properties. Specifically, the tensile strength increased more than 3.5 times. In addition, we observed its cell compatibility using fluorescence staining and CCK-8 assays and found good cell viability. Finally, it was possible to control the drug delivery rate efficiently using the voltage applied to the ion-conductive hydrogel. As the voltage was increased to 3, 5, and 7 V, the amount of drug released was 53, 88, and 96%, respectively. These excellent properties of the PAA–silicone hydrogel can be used not only for whitening or anti-wrinkling cosmetics but also in medical drug-delivery systems.

A smart injectable composite hydrogel with magnetic navigation and controlled glutathione release for promoting in situ chondrocyte array and self-healing in damaged cartilage tissue.

Injectable cell-based hydrogels allow surgical operation in a minimally invasive way for articular cartilage lesions but the chondrocytes in the injectable hydrogels are difficultly arrayed and fixed at the site of interest to repair the cartilage tissue. In this study, an injectable hyaluronic acid-polyacrylic acid (HA-pAA) hydrogel was first synthesized using hyaluronic acid-cyclodextrin (HA-CD) and polyacrylic acid-ferrocene (pAA-Fc) to provide cell-delivery and self-healing. To promote the cell fixation and alignment, porous poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) magnetic microcapsules (PPMMs) with glutathione (GSH) loaded and iron oxide nanoparticles (IO) located in the shell were designed. The GSH-loaded PPMMs with layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of hyaluronic acid (HA) and GSH (LbL-PPMMs) can provide a two-stage rapid and slow release of GSH to modulate the self-healing of the HA-pAA hydrogel at the injured site. Furthermore, the chondrocytes embedded in the HA-pAA hydrogel could be delivered through CD44 receptors on the HA polymer chains of LbL-PPMMs toward the surface of the damaged site by an internal magnetic force. The composite hydrogel system of chondrocytes/LbL-PPMMs/HA-pAA can provide the damaged cartilage with a more even and smooth surface than other groups in a rabbit model after 8 weeks of implantation. In addition, the chondrocytes in the deep zone tissue exhibit a columnar array, similar to the cell arrangement in normal cartilage tissue. Together with the cell navigation behavior and GSH release from the LbL-PPMM/HA-pAA hydrogel, a full closure of lesions on the cartilage tissue can be achieved. Our results demonstrate the highly promising potential of the injectable LbL-PPMM/HA-pAA system in cartilage tissue repair.

КОМБІНАЦІЯ ГІДРОГЕЛЮ, ТОЛУЇДИНОВОГО СИНЬОГО ТА СВІТЛА 600 НМ ДЛЯ ІНАКТИВАЦІЇ STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS IN VITRO

Skin damage is accompanied by bacterial infection of the wound. Different materials are used for accelerate tissue regeneration and minimize bacterial contamination. Also it is prevent the penetration of bacteria to damaged tissues. After the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of microorganisms began the search for alternative means of their inactivation. Photosensitizers are used for this purpose. Their maxima of optical absorbance are in the red and infrared regions. The use of such substances provides powerful bactericidal effects, but with low toxicity to surrounding tissues. The aim of the investigation is to determine the effectiveness of combining hydrogels with toluidine blue and irradiation by light of 600 nm to inhibit the in vitro of Staphylococcus aureus growth. Equilibrium is not formed after incubation of hydrogels with toluidine blue after 3 h in aqueous solution. During this time, 57 and 43 % of the photosensitizer is desorbed from the hydrogels PAA and D-PAA, respectively. Process rate depends on the type of polymer. Desorption of TB from D-PAA is 30% faster. Irradiation of the suspension of S. aureus by light of 600 nm reduced the CFU amount by 25 % at a dose more than 4 J/ml. Short incubation (20 min) of the PAA and D-PAA hydrogels in the bacterial suspension and light irradiation (600 nm), the amount of CFU are reduced by 33% and 15 %, respectively. Increasing the incubation time of PAA does not increase the bactericidal effect. Exposure of 80 min D-PAA with TB in a suspension of S. aureus, followed by light irradiation provides inactivation of 50 % CFU. Thus, the D-PAA system with toluidine blue in combination with 600 nm light can be used to inactivate S. aureus.

Design and preparation of double-network PAA hydrogels with favorable mechanical performance

Design and preparation of double-network PAA hydrogels with favorable mechanical performance

Adsorption of resazurin by poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels and evaluation of its use in reduction assay for quantification of cell viability

Resazurin is a nonfluorescent blue dye which is reduced to a fluorescent pink resorufin via enzymatic activity of living cells. Therefore, a resazurin reduction-based assay serves as an effective method for evaluating cell viability. In this study, resazurin was adsorbed on poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) hydrogels and evaluated for its effectiveness in bacterial and mammalian cell viability assay. The effects of PAA hydrogel and resazurin amounts, pH, temperature, light and agitation on adsorption capacity were examined. The experimental data were fitted to the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order kinetic models with Radj2 of 0.991 and 0.986, respectively, indicating a chemical monolayer adsorption at fixed adsorption sites via physicochemical interaction between resazurin and PAA hydrogel. In the cell viability assay, resazurin adsorbed on hydrogels gave higher percent reduction at lower bacterial cell concentration. For starting inoculums higher than 1.0 × 104 CFU/mL Escherichia coli (E. coli), the percent reductions of resazurin adsorbed on hydrogels were not significantly different than that of resazurin free in the growth medium, however, the stability of resazurin in the growth medium was higher when adsorbed on hydrogels. The assays utilizing MCF-7 at three concentrations gave higher reduction results with higher dye stability in the growth medium. It was concluded that adsorption of resazurin on PAA hydrogels improved its stability in medium and thus provided better viability assay conditions for both bacteria and mammalian cell.

Graphene quantum dots and polypyrrole incorporated polyacrylic acid hydrogels with enhanced conductivity

Highly conductive hydrogels of functional graphene quantum dots (FGQDs) and polypyrrole (PPy) incorporated polyacrylic acid (FGQDs/PAA20/PPy) were fabricated through chemical cross-linking and in-situ polymerization. The amount of FGQDs, PPy and cross-linker affecting on the morphology, swelling ratio and electrical properties of FGQDs/PAA20/PPy composite hydrogels was investigated. FGQDs produced smaller-sized pores on the structure of PAA hydrogels, but hardly affected their porosity and swelling ratio. A high conductivity of 0.29 S/m was achieved for FGQDs/PAA20/PPy hydrogels, which promised high possibility in various fields.

Tough, highly stretchable and self-healing poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels reinforced by functionalized basalt fibers

Recently, self-healing properties have lately received great attention for polymeric hydrogels which enables the hydrogels to restore their structures after damage and prolong the service life of the gels. However, commonly polymeric hydrogels generally exhibit poor mechanical and self-healing properties. Herein, hydroxyl-functionalized basalt fibers (f-BF) as reinforcement and methylene bis acrylamide as the crosslinking agent were introduced into poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) hydrogels for fabrication of mechanically robust and self-healing hydrogels. The enhanced PAA hydrogel was obtained through synergistic covalent cross-linking of PAA chains and dynamic crosslinking of hydrogen bond interactions between polymeric matrix and f-BF, which endow the resultant hydrogel excellent mechanical properties and self-healing ability. The PAA/f-BF double crosslink hydrogel exhibits high tensile strength of 108 KPa and excellent toughness of 344.23 KJ.m−3, almost ∼6 times to PAA hydrogel. The as-prepared hydrogel possesses highly stretchable of 813 %, ∼4 times to PAA hydrogel. What’s more, the as-prepared hydrogel also has enhance self-healing ability based on tensile strength reaches up to ∼85 %. The excellent performances and simple preparation should enable the development of self-healing hydrogels for potential tissue engineering and bionic robotics applications.

Investigation of structural and morphological properties of ZnO nanoflowers on biocompatible polymeric substrate

In this study, acrylic acid (AA) biocompatible hydrogels were prepared and used as a polymeric substrate for zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoflower. Acrylic acid hydrogels were synthesized by free radical polymerization technique. ZnO nanoflowers on hydrogels (ZnO/PAA) were prepared for the first time in literature by Chemical Bath Deposition technique at a very short deposition time (30 minutes). Structural and morphological properties of ZnO nanoflowers on PAA hydrogels were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy – Energy Dispersive of X-Ray (FESEM-EDX) respectively. Distribution of ZnO nanoflower on PAA hydrogels was determined by using elemental mapping. The XRD patterns showed that ZnO nanoflowers were fully formed on hydrogels. The FT-IR spectrum proved the characteristic absorption peaks of ZnO. FESEM images showed that the homogeneous morphology of ZnO nanoflowers. Nanoflowers were synthesized with an average size of 700 nm. XRD, FT-IR spectroscopy and FESEM-EDX analysis evidenced the successful synthesize of novel ZnO/PAA biocompatible nanocomposite hydrogels.

Mechanically tough and highly stretchable poly(acrylic acid) hydrogel cross-linked by 2D graphene oxide.

The mechanical performances of hydrogels are greatly influenced by the functionality of cross-linkers and their covalent and non-covalent interactions with the polymer chains. Conventional chemical cross-linkers fail to meet the demand of large toughness and high extensibility for their immediate applications as artificial tissues like ligaments, blood vessels, and cardiac muscles in human or animal bodies. Herein, we synthesized a new graphene oxide-based two-dimensional (2D) cross-linker (GOBC) and exploited the functionality of the cross-linker for the enhancement of toughness and stretchability of a poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) hydrogel. The 2D nanosheets of GO were modified in such a way that they could provide multifunctional sites for both physical and chemical bonding with the polymer chains. Carboxylic acid groups at the surfaces of the GO sheets were coupled with the acrylate functional groups for covalent cross-linking, while the other oxygen-containing functional groups are responsible for physical cross-linking with polymers. The GOBC had been successfully incorporated into the PAA hydrogel and the mechanical properties of the GOBC cross-linked PAA hydrogel (PAA-GOBC) were investigated at various compositions of cross-linker. Seven times enhancement in both toughness and elongation at break has been achieved without compromising on the modulus for the as-synthesized PAA-GOBC compared to the conventional N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (MBA) cross-linked PAA hydrogel. This facile and efficient way of GO modification is expected to lead the development of a high-performance nanocomposite for cutting-edge applications in biomedical engineering.

How can multi-bond network hydrogels dissipate energy more effectively: an investigation on the relationship between network structure and properties.

Constructing a multi-bond network (MBN), which involves hierarchical dynamic bonds with different bond association energies, is an effective method for achieving super tough hydrogels. In this work, a small amount of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is introduced into a loosely chemically crosslinked poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) network. The hydrophilic PVA chains can physically interact and form hydrogen bonds with the PAA chains. After a freeze-thaw process, PVA could partially crystallize and the generated microcrystals could become new crosslinking points of the hydrogels. Meanwhile, the hydrogen bonds between PAA and PVA, which connect to the microcrystal "core" through PVA chains, could also become new crosslinking points of the hydrogels. The obtained ternary-crosslinked hydrogels (T-gel 10%) exhibit toughness as high as 8 times that in pure PAA hydrogels. When the PVA content exceeds 15 wt%, PVA chains will run through the whole PAA network. Thus the PVA chains will be crosslinked by microcrystals through freeze-thaw treatment, leading to a double network structure, resulting in a brittle hydrogel. The step-increased modulus of the hydrogels with different PVA contents clearly demonstrates the change in the network structure of the hydrogels. Successively, Fe3+ is introduced into the MBN hydrogels as a third cross-linking point. The obtained quaternary-crosslinked hydrogels (Q-gel 10%-Fe5) (50 wt% water content) exhibit significantly improved mechanical properties: tensile strength as high as 6.83 MPa with a fracture energy of 29.9 MJ m-3. This work provides clear insight into the relationship between network structure and mechanical properties in super tough MBN hydrogels.

Preparation of Radiation Cross-Linked Poly(Acrylic Acid) Hydrogel Containing Metronidazole with Enhanced Antibacterial Activity.

Metronidazole (MD) is known as a periodontitis medicine and has been widely used in antibiotics for resistance to anaerobic bacteria, periodontal disease, and other threats. To treat diseases, drug delivery carriers are needed with a high bioadhesive property and enhanced drug penetration. Poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) hydrogel films have a good bioadhesive property and are able to localize the absorption site and increase the drug residence time. In this study, we fabricated a MD loaded PAA hydrogel with different MD content (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 wt%) using varying doses (25, 50, and 75 kGy) and the radiation doses (25, 50, or 75 kGy) in a one-step gamma-ray irradiation process. The chemical and physical structure were determined through a Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, gel content, and compressive strength. In addition, MD loaded PAA hydrogels were performed to MD release behaviors and cytotoxicity. Finally, we conducted antibacterial activity to demonstrate the prevention of growth of bacteria as a therapeutic dressing. The basic chemical structure analysis of MD was changed greatly at radiation doses of 50 and 75 kGy due to degradation by gamma-ray irradiation. However, when the absorbed dose was 25 kGy, the chemical structure analysis of MD did not change significantly, and the gel content and compressive strength of MD/PAA hydrogel were approximately 80% and 130 kPa, respectively. The MD/PAA hydrogels exhibited no cytotoxicity and good antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus mutans. These results provide good evidence that MD/PAA hydrogel prepared by gamma-ray irradiation has potential as a competitive candidate for the therapeutic dressing.