An Injectable Nanocomposite IPN Hydrogel Based on Gelatin Methacrylate/Alginate/COF for Tissue Engineering Applications
Samin Saleki, Saied Nouri Khorasani, Shahla Khalili, Mahshid Hafezi, Mahsa Najarzadegan, Mohammad Reza Molaviyan, Mohammad Dinari, Ali Kakapour
Abstract
Abstract The primary request nowadays is for innovative and superior scaffold designs that mimic the characteristics of native tissue in cartilage tissue engineering. GelMA/Alginate (G/A) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) has become a popular hydrogel material for tissue engineering because of its superior mechanical and biological properties. Here, to balance the properties, a hydrogel composed of G/A and covalent organic frameworks (COF) nanoparticles is specially designed. In this study, a hydrogel of GelMA/Alginate/COF (G/A/C) with improved properties such as pore size, swelling, mechanical strength, shear‐thinning behavior, and biocompatibility is produced. Furthermore, the G/A/C hydrogel facilitate the printing of complex three dimensional (3D) scaffolds. The test result demonstrates that the addition of COF up to 1% (w/w) enhances the porosity and decreases pore size (0.2 times), improves the compression strength (six times), and decreases the degradation ratio (0.05 times) and the swelling (0.3 times) compared to the G/A hydrogel sample. Besides, the cell viability test confirms the cell growth during the incubation and great biological behavior (more than 98%). The suitable performance of the G/A hydrogel containing 1% COF and its shape fidelity during the injection by 3D printer is confirmed. Nanocomposite IPN hydrogel based on G/A/C could be useful in tissue engineering applications.