Developing new approaches to improve the swelling, degradation rate, and mechanical properties of alginate hydrogels without compromising their biocompatibility for biomedical applications represents a potential area of research. In this work, the generation of interpenetrated networks (IPN) comprised from alginate–polyurethane in an aqueous medium is proposed to design hydrogels with tailored properties for biomedical applications. Aqueous polyurethane (PU) dispersions can crosslink and interpenetrate alginate chains, forming amide bonds that allow the structure and water absorption capacity of these novel hydrogels to be regulated. In this sense, this work focuses on studying the relation of the PU concentration on the properties of these hydrogels. The results indicate that the crosslinking of the alginate with PU generates IPN hydrogels with a crystalline structure characterized by a homogeneous smooth surface with high capacity to absorb water, tailoring the degradation rate, thermal decomposition, and storage module, not altering the native biocompatibility of alginate, providing character to inhibit the growth of E. coli and increasing also its hemocompatibility. The IPN hydrogels that include 20 wt.% of PU exhibit a reticulation index of 46 ± 4%, swelling capacity of 545 ± 13% at 7 days of incubation at physiological pH, resistance to both acidic and neutral hydrolytic degradation, mechanical improvement of 91 ± 1%, and no cytotoxicity for monocytes and fibroblasts growing for up to 72 h of incubation. These results indicate that these novel hydrogels can be used for successful biomedical applications in the design of wound healing dressings.

开发新方法来改善藻酸盐水凝胶的溶胀、降解率和机械性能，同时又不影响其生物医学应用的生物相容性，这是一个潜在的研究领域。在这项工作中，建议在水性介质中生成由藻酸盐-聚氨酯组成的互穿网络 (IPN)，以设计具有定制特性的水凝胶，用于生物医学应用。水性聚氨酯 (PU) 分散体可以交联和互穿藻酸盐链，形成酰胺键，从而可以调节这些新型水凝胶的结构和吸水能力。从这个意义上说，这项工作的重点是研究 PU 浓度与这些水凝胶特性的关系。大肠杆菌并增加其血液相容性。包含 20 wt.% PU 的 IPN 水凝胶表现出 46 ± 4% 的网状指数，在生理 pH 值下培养 7 天时的溶胀能力为 545 ± 13%，对酸性和中性水解降解的抵抗力，机械改进为 91 ± 1%，并且对培养长达 72 小时的单核细胞和成纤维细胞没有细胞毒性。这些结果表明，这些新型水凝胶可用于成功设计伤口愈合敷料的生物医学应用。