Fabrication of highly stretchable hydrogel based on crosslinking between alendronates functionalized poly-γ-glutamate and calcium cations

We report a highly stretchable hydrogel based on the crosslinking structure between calcium cations and alendronates (ALN) conjugated with poly-gamma-glutamate (gamma-PGA), a typical biodegradable polymer. gamma-PGA with ALN (gamma-PGA-ALN) forms the hydrogel in the aqueous solution containing CaCl2. The hydrogel shows 2000% of stretchability and reversible stretching without failure at a strain of 250%. The fracture strain and stress are tunable by varying the concentration of either gamma-PGA-ALN or CaCl2, indicating the importance of fine-tuning of the density of the cross-linkage to control the mechanical properties of the hydrogel. We believe the biode-gradable polymer based highly stretchable hydrogel has potential for use in various fields such as tissue engineering.

Automated summary

Researchers have developed a highly stretchable hydrogel based on the crosslinking structure between calcium cations and alendronates conjugated with poly-gamma-glutamate. The hydrogel exhibits 2000% stretchability and reversible stretching without failure at a strain of 250%. By adjusting the concentration of the crosslinker or calcium chloride, the fracture strain and stress of the hydrogel can be controlled. This biodegradable polymer-based hydrogel shows promise in applications such as tissue engineering.