Stimuli-responsive smart hydrogels have garnered considerable interest for their potential in biomedical applications. While widely utilized, little is known about the rheological and mechanical properties of the hydrogels with respect to the type of cross-linker in a systematic manner. In this study, we present a facile synthetic route toward ABA triblock copolymer hydrogels based on poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). Two classes of hydrogels were prepared by employing the functional allyl glycidyl ether (AGE) monomer during the polymerization followed by the subsequent post-polymerization modification of prepared PAGE-b-PEO-b-PAGE via respective hydrogenation or thiol-ene reaction: (1) chemically cross-linked hydrogels responsive to redox stimuli and (2) physically cross-linked hydrogels responsive to temperature. A series of dynamic mechanical analyses revealed the relaxation dynamics of the associative A block. Most interestingly, the redox-responsive hydrogels demonstrated a highly tunable nature by introducing reducing and oxidizing agents, which provided the self-healing property and injectability. Together with superior biocompatibility, these smart hydrogels offer the prospect of advancing biomedical applications.

中文翻译：

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聚环氧乙烷基自修复动态三嵌段共聚物水凝胶的简便合成

刺激响应型智能水凝胶因其在生物医学应用中的潜力而引起了广泛的关注。尽管被广泛利用，但是关于水凝胶的流变学和机械性能相对于交联剂类型的了解还是系统的。在这项研究中，我们提出了一种基于聚环氧乙烷（PEO）的ABA三嵌段共聚物水凝胶的简便合成路线。通过在聚合过程中使用官能烯丙基缩水甘油醚（AGE）单体，然后对制备的PAGE- b -PEO- b进行随后的聚合后改性，制备了两类水凝胶通过各自的氢化或硫醇-烯反应进行-PAGE：（1）对氧化还原刺激敏感的化学交联的水凝胶和（2）对温度敏感的物理交联的水凝胶。一系列动态力学分析揭示了缔合A嵌段的弛豫动力学。最有趣的是，通过引入还原剂和氧化剂，氧化还原反应性水凝胶表现出高度可调的性质，这提供了自愈特性和可注射性。结合出色的生物相容性，这些智能水凝胶为推进生物医学应用提供了前景。