Design and development of novel smart hydrogels based on functionalised glycosaminoglycans for bioengineering applications

Hydrogel research has made significant progress in recent years, evolving from simple networks to smart, injectable materials. The development of novel smart hydrogels has the potential to greatly advance the field of bioengineering. In this context, the aim of the project is to design and develop innovative smart hydrogels based on functionalised glycosaminoglycans. These smart hydrogels hold great promise for bioengineering applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to injectable hydrogel materials and fabrication mechanisms, smart hydrogel responsive properties, and their potential applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Chapter 2 presents the development of a antioxidative wound dressing by incorporating a disulfide moiety into a hydrazone covalent chemistry-based hydrogel. Chapter 3 explores the development of an on-demand dissolvable wound dressing fabricated from aldehyde functionalised chondroitin sulfate (CS-CHO) and thiolated hyaluronic acid (HA-SH) based on thiol-aldehyde addition. Chapter 4 studies the tuneable properties of a thiol-aldehyde addition based hydrogel system composed of aldehyde functionalised hyaluronic acid (HA-CHO) and thiolated hyaluronic acid (HA-SH). A double-crosslinked network was developed and applied for 3D cell encapsulation. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the entire project and explores potential avenues for future research investigations.