Hydrogels that can mimic mechanical properties and functions of biological tissue have attracted great interest in tissue engineering and biofabrication. In these fields, new materials and approaches to prepare hydrogels without using toxic starting materials or materials that decompose into toxic compounds remain to be sought after. Here, we report the crosslinking of commercial, unfunctionalized hydrophilic poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) using peroxide copolymers in their melt. The influence of temperature, peroxide copolymer concentration, and duration of the crosslinking process has been investigated. The method allows to create hydrogels from unfunctionalized polymers in their melt and to control the mechanical properties of the resulting materials. The design of hydrogels with a suitable mechanical performance is of crucial importance in many existing and potential applications of soft materials, including medical applications.

中文翻译：

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使用聚过氧化物交联亲水聚合物

可以模拟生物组织的机械性能和功能的水凝胶引起了组织工程和生物制造的极大兴趣。在这些领域，不使用有毒起始材料或分解成有毒化合物的材料制备水凝胶的新材料和方法仍有待寻求。在这里，我们报告了使用熔体中的过氧化物共聚物交联商业的、未官能化的亲水性聚（2-乙基-2-恶唑啉）。已经研究了温度、过氧化物共聚物浓度和交联过程持续时间的影响。该方法允许从熔融状态的未官能化聚合物制造水凝胶，并控制所得材料的机械性能。