Adaptable hydrogels have recently emerged as a promising platform for three-dimensional (3D) cell encapsulation and culture. In conventional, covalently crosslinked hydrogels, degradation is typically required to allow complex cellular functions to occur, leading to bulk material degradation. In contrast, adaptable hydrogels are formed by reversible crosslinks. Through breaking and re-formation...

Poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)-kappa-carrageenan hydrogels (PVP-KC) were prepared by irradiating the mixtures of aqueous solutions of PVP, KC, potassium chloride, and poly(ethylene glycol) by gamma-rays at different doses. Their preliminary laboratory tests were evaluated to identify their usability in wound dressing applications. For investigation of the effect of components on the gelation of PV...

As a result of inherent rigidity of the conjugated macromolecular chains resulted from the delocalized π-electron system along the polymer backbone, it has been a huge challenge to make conducting polymer hydrogels elastic by far. Herein elastic and conductive polypyrrole hydrogels with only conducting polymer as the continuous phase have been simply synthesized in the indispensable conditions ...

Tissue scaffolds play a vital role in tissue engineering by providing a native tissue-mimicking environment for cells, with the aim to promote cell proliferation, proper cell differentiation, and regeneration. To better mimic the microenvironment of native tissues, novel techniques and materials have emerged in recent years. Among them, hydrogels formed from self-assembled biopolymer networks a...

Hydrogels are three-dimensional materials that can withstand a great amount of water incorporation while maintaining integrity. This allows hydrogels to be very unique biomedical materials, especially for drug delivery. Much effort has been made to incorporate hydrophilic molecules in hydrogels in the field of drug delivery, while loading of hydrophobic drugs has not been vastly studied. Howeve...

Stimuli-sensitive hydrogels changing their volumes and shapes in response to various stimulations have potential applications in multiple fields. However, these hydrogels have not yet been commercialized due to some problems that need to be overcome. One of the most significant problems is that conventional stimuli-sensitive hydrogels are usually brittle. Here we prepare extremely stretchable t...

Hydrogels have been extensively explored for biomedical applications due to their ability to absorb high water content in its structure, which gives excellent biocompatibility. This work aims at obtaining biocompatible hydrogels with potential for use in increasing the mechanical strength of bone substitutes, or controlled drug release. Poly (N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) hydrogels were prepared by fr...

Five methods of preparation of macroporous hydrogels are described and compared: precipitation polymerization, polymerization in presence of salt, polymerization in presence of gas-releasing compound, lyophilization and electrospinning. Crosslinked copolymers based on 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate were selected as model hydrogels. Hydrogels were characterized by SEM microscopy, porosity, communic...

The present review article highlights a specific class of responsive polymer-based hydrogels which are formed through association of oppositely charged polyion segments. The underpinning temporary three-dimensional network is constituted of hydrophilic chains (either ionic or neutral) physically crosslinked by ion pair formation arising from intermolecular polyionic complexation of oppositely c...

Hydrogels have existed for more than half a century, and today they have many applications in various processes ranging from industrial to biological. There are numerous original papers, reviews, and monographs focused on the synthesis, properties, and applications of hydrogels. This chapter covers the fundamental aspects and several applications of hydrogels based on the old and the most recen...