Technological watch

Hydrogels with anti?hydration, toughness, and adhesion are prepared using a simple and universal method that incorporates hydrophobic chains as cross?linking points. The introduction of hydrophobic cross?linking chains not only constrains the movement of molecular chains, enhancing their dissipative properties, but also resists water intrusion into the gel network. Consequently, the hydrogel's original properties are preserved.Hydrogel adhesion materials are widely reported for tissue engineering repair applications, however, wet tissue surface moisture can reduce the wet?adhesion properties and mechanical strength of hydrogels limiting their application. Here, anti?hydration gelatin–acrylic acid–ethylene dimethacrylate (GAE) hydrogels with hydrophobic cross?linked chains are constructed. The prepared GAE hydrogel is soaked in PBS (3 days) with a volume change of 0.6 times of the original and the adhesive strength, Young's modulus, toughness, and burst pressure are maintained by ?70% of the original. A simple and universal method is used to introduce hydrophobic chains as cross?linking points to prepare hydrogels with anti?hydration, toughness, and high wet state adhesion. The hydrophobic cross?linked chains not only restrict the movement of molecular chains but also hinder the intrusion of water molecules. Antihydration GAE hydrogels exhibit good biocompatibility, slow drug release, and dynamic oral wet?state tissue repair properties. Therefore, the anti?hydration hydrogel has excellent toughness, wet tissue adhesion properties, and good prospects for biological applications.