| dc.description.abstract | With the growth of biomedical applications, in situ forming hydrogel is one of the most interesting fields that has attracted increasing attention not only in tissue engineering but also in drug delivery applications. In addition, cross-linkers also play an important role in the formation, properties, and applications of hydrogels. In comparison to chemically cross-linked hydrogels, physically cross-linked hydrogels provide lower mechanical properties and are less stable in the short term. However, some chemical cross-linking hydrogels have harsh reaction conditions, potential toxicity, and difficult responses to environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, pH, and ionic strength), which limit their application in some fields. In this research, zwitterionic copolymers consisting of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and 2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride (AE) were synthesized for preparing injectable hydrogels with the presence of dipropiolate ester of polyethylene glycol (DA-PEG), which is a chemical cross-linker. The DA-PEG crosslinker is a homobifunctional PEG that contains two alkyne functional groups that have high reactivity properties. The activated alkyne groups of the crosslinker will be dynamically linked with amino groups of the copolymer p(MPC-AE)xy via the amino-yne click reaction.The gelation time, mechanical properties, equilibrium swelling, and degradability of p(MPC-AE)xy_DA-PEG hydrogel were investigated.The hydrogel formed a hydrogel within 2 hours and showed a high swelling ratio, self-healing, and viability properties. In addition, the formation of enamine bonds plays an important role in inducing the pH response hydrogel. In acid conditions, a reversible mechanism between enamine and imine bonds induced the sol-gel transition behavior of the p(MPC-AE)xy_DA-PEG hydrogel.Based on the foregoing benefits, the p(MPC-AE)xy_DA-PEG hydrogel is a potential material for use in biomedical fields such as tissue engineering and therapeutic agent delivery. | en_US |