Advances in multifunctional chitosan-based self-healing hydrogels for biomedical applications

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. B, Materials for biology and medicine Vol. 9; no. 38; pp. 7955 - 7971
• Main Authors: Ou, Yi, Tian, Meng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 06.10.2021
• Subjects: adhesion; Animals; Bacteria - drug effects; Bandages; Biocompatibility; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Biomedical materials; Biosensing Techniques - methods; Chemical reactions; Chitosan; Chitosan - chemistry; Drug Carriers - chemistry; Hydrogels; Hydrogels - chemistry; Hydrogels - pharmacology; hydrogen; Hydrogen bonding; Hydrogen bonds; Hydrophobicity; Hydroxyl groups; Imines; Medical dressings; Metals - chemistry; Polysaccharides; Regeneration; Scaffolds; schiff bases; tissue repair; Wound Healing - drug effects; Wounds
• ISSN: 2050-750X; 2050-7518; 2050-7518
• DOI: 10.1039/d1tb01363g

Multifunctional self-healing hydrogels have recently attracted considerable interest in biomedical applications owing to their diverse properties, including self-healing, adhesion, conduction, antibacterial, and stimulus-response, which can meet various application requirements, ranging from wound dressings and delivery vehicles to the production of scaffolds for tissue repair and regeneration. As a natural polycationic polysaccharide with good biocompatibility, chitosan is widely used in hydrogel formation as there are many amino and hydroxyl groups along the chains that can actively participate in various physical effects and chemical reactions, which enable it to construct self-healing hydrogels and fulfill multiple functions. In this review, the formation of chitosan-based self-healing hydrogels and the related self-healing mechanism are summarized, including Schiff base, metal coordination, ionic and hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic and host-guest interactions, with a focus on the strategies for their multi-functionalization. In the last section, the applications of the chitosan-based self-healing hydrogels in the fields of wound dressings, delivery vehicles, scaffolds, and biological sensors are discussed. Overall, it is highly expected that this review could provide an insight into the prospective development of multifunctional self-healing hydrogels for biomedical applications. This review focuses on the formation, multifunctionalization, and biomedical application of multifunctional chitosan-based self-healing hydrogels.