Design Strategies of Conductive Hydrogel for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Conductive hydrogel, with electroconductive properties and high water content in a three-dimensional structure is prepared by incorporating conductive polymers, conductive nanoparticles, or other conductive elements, into hydrogel systems through various strategies. Conductive hydrogel has recently attracted extensive attention in the biomedical field. Using different conductivity strategies, conductive hydrogel can have adjustable physical and biochemical properties that suit different biomedical needs. The conductive hydrogel can serve as a scaffold with high swelling and stimulus responsiveness to support cell growth in vitro and to facilitate wound healing, drug delivery and tissue regeneration in vivo. Conductive hydrogel can also be used to detect biomolecules in the form of biosensors. In this review, we summarize the current design strategies of conductive hydrogel developed for applications in the biomedical field as well as the perspective approach for integration with biofabrication technologies.

Conductive Biomaterials as Bioactive Wound Dressing for Wound Healing and Skin Tissue Engineering

“…Due to the porous 3D interconnected structure and high water content, hydrogel owns a lot of advantages as wound dressing [ 35 , 145 , 169 ]. Hydrogel allows oxygen and water vapor to pass through, maintains a humid environment, lowers the wound temperature, and relieves pain [ 170 ]. The soft nature, flexibility, and stretchability support hydrogel being compliant with human skin under ceaseless movement [ 171 , 172 ].…”

Development in liquid crystal microcapsules: fabrication, optimization and applications

“…Up to now, there have been three kinds of polymer shells that are widely used -polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), hydrogel and polyurethane (PU) -each of which exhibits unique monomers and structure. [64][65][66][67] Some of the simple LC-Ms, socalled LC droplets, exhibiting fluid shells directly derived from surfactants such as SDS and CTAB, have also been investigated in depth. [68,69] PMMA, known as the organic glass, holds the advantage of high transparency and low cost, and is promising in the field of chemical mediator, building materials and adhesives (Figure 2h).…”

The Versatility of Polymeric Materials as Self-Healing Agents for Various Types of Applications: A Review

“…Additionally, conductive hydrogels are also one of the increasing and developed biomaterials that are being actively explored by scientists in the healthcare field, which are expected to provide an advanced self-healing material for implantable, wearable sensors and functional tissue-engineered scaffolds [ 67 , 68 ]. This conductive polymer provides electronic conductivity and ionic conductivity that is formed by a conjugated π system with the overlapped π orbitals through the polymer chain of polymerization [ 69 ]. This conductive hydrogel gives a new level of perspective in control over biomaterials when implanted into the human body.…”

“…Furthermore, the most conductive polymers used as conductive hydrogels for biomedical applications are polypyrrole (PPY) and polyaniline (PAni) [ 69 ]. However, the hydrogels are limited due to their low mechanical properties.…”