Insights into enzymatic degradation of physically crosslinked hydrogels anchored by functionalized carbon nanofillers

Abstract

The effect of different geometries of functional carbon nanofillers has been studied to understand the nature of enzymatic degradation of physically crosslinked hydrogels. The noncovalent interactions between polymer and fillers...

Coherent Loading–Deloading Mechanism in Polymeric Nanohybrid Network Structures

“…The higher cross-linking densities in the CNT-reinforced gel have been further confirmed by the shifting of the PVA crystallite peaks in the XRD patterns to higher θ values [Figure S1], indicating strong interactions between the functional moieties on the nanofillers and gels and similar higher stability due to better network formation also found in TGA [Figure S2]. , …”

“…The biodegradation (Figure Y) and biocompatibility (Figure ) features of the carrier drug/dye vehicle are extremely important for their successful physiological use or for environment-friendly residue disposal . The higher surface area of carbon nanotubes helps the enzymes to adsorb onto the nanohybrid hydrogel and degrade the physically cross-linked structure very rapidly (Figure Y) . It has been reported that the addition of functionalized nanotubes also helps in the enzymatic biodegradation of the carrier matrix as the functional surface helps the absorption and diffusion of enzymes into the gel matrix.…”

“…The enzymatic biodegradability of CNT-reinforced PVA−melamine double-network nanocomposite gels and PVA−melamine doublenetwork gels have been carried out by a previously described procedure. 8 Briefly, 1 M PBS solution (buffer solution) was prepared in deionized water with a pH of 7; then, the enzymatic buffer solution was prepared by adding 1 mg/mL lysozyme enzyme in the prepared PBS solution at the pH of 7. The prepared nanocomposite gel samples were cut and weighed, followed by incubation in glass vials containing enzymatic buffer solution, with occasional mild stirring in a water bath at 37 °C for different time periods.…”

“…The network formation by the CNT in the polymeric matrix is well documented in the literature. The high entangled nature of CNT contributed to the filler network formation, which was thoroughly investigated by the mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of nanocomposites. , There are several reports of carbon nanofiller-induced enhancement of cross-linking nanohybrids for several applications such as shape memory materials, enzyme degradation, motion sensors, wearable electronics, and so forth. It has been found that the adsorption–desorption isotherm of the swelled gel was largely influenced by the temperature, pressure, and pH of the release medium.…”

“…On the other hand, in the case of physically anchored hydrogels, the primary degradation is the cleavage of the cross-links, and hence the stability of hydrogel constituents to produce the hierarchical structure in an ionic medium becomes very important. 7,8 To control the rate of degradation and to provide dimensional stability, the physical and chemical cross-linking with the secondary species has been adapted for toughened hydrogels. The supramolecular hydrophilic polymeric assemblies were held together by noncovalent bonds, where the opportunity to tailor the intermolecular forces like hydrogen bonding, π−π stacking, and ionic interactions led to the generation of multifunctionalities in the physically cross-linked hydrogels.…”