Boronic Ester-Based Self-Healing Hydrogels Formed by Using Intermolecular B-N Coordination

Abstract The copolymer poly(acrylamide-co-2-acrylamido glucose) (PA) and poly(acrylamide-co-N-acryloyl-3-aminophenylboronic acid-co-N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) acrylamide) (PB) were separately prepared by radical polymerization, and the hydrogel was readily constructed by simple mixing the two kinds of copolymers. The amine-containing monomer, N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) acrylamide was incorporated into the polymer chain to enhance the stability of the complex between boronic acid and glucose units under physiological condition. The mechanical properties of the hydrogel can be readily engineered by adjusting the pH, solid content, and [phenylboronic acid]/[glucose] ratios. Moreover, the hydrogel possesses excellent intrinsic self-healing ability. Benefitting from the reversible property of the boronic ester, the hydrogel can be dissociated by adding competitive sugar molecules, which makes it easy to remove from medical gauze or skin. Additionally, cell cytotoxicity studies revealed that the hydrogel has good biocompatibility. With its superior properties, this dynamic phenylboronic ester-based hydrogel has great potential to be a component of new generation of wound dressings.