Biobased adhesive hydrogels for wound management and tissue repair: From materials to advanced applications
Dongyang Miao, Yige Gao, Bowen Shi, Wen Zhou, Dong Wang, Jichao Zhang, Jun Song, Miao Cui, Shuo Shi
Abstract
Effective tissue adhesion under wet and dynamic physiological conditions remains a major challenge in wound management and tissue repair. Conventional tissue adhesives often suffer from limited biocompatibility, inadequate wet adhesion, or lack of degradability, restricting their broader clinical use. In recent years, biobased adhesive hydrogels have emerged as promising alternatives owing to their intrinsic biocompatibility, tunable mechanical properties, and capability to achieve robust adhesion in complex biological environments. In addition to being passive sealants, recent developments have made these materials smartly responsive to various stimuli (pH, temperature, light, magnetic field, ultrasound), achieving multifunctional and on-demand treatment performance. This review summarizes recent advances in biobased adhesive hydrogels, with emphasis on material design strategies, interfacial adhesion mechanisms, evaluation methodologies, and representative biomedical applications. Particular attention is given to how biobased materials address the challenges of wet-tissue adhesion, mechanical mismatch, and dynamic tissue interfaces. Finally, current limitations and future development directions are discussed, including translational challenges, minimally invasive applications, and the integration of multifunctionality with clinical practicality. This review aims to provide guidance for the rational design and clinical translation of next-generation biobased adhesive hydrogels.