Benzaldehyde-terminated telechelic four-armed polyethylene glycol (PEG-BA) is synthesized and cross-linked with carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) to form dynamic hydrogels with strong mechanical performance. The gelation temperature and time, mechanical performance, and self-healing behaviors are systematically investigated. The hydrogels have good storage modulus up to 3162.06 ± 21.06 Pa, comparable to conventional bulk hydrogels. The separated alternate hydrogel lines connect together to become an integrated hydrogel film after 5 min at room temperature without any external intervention. This is due to the dynamic equilibrium between the Schiff base linkages and the aldehyde groups of PEG-BA and amine groups on CMC backbone. The hydrogel shows excellent cytocompatibility and the cell viability is as high as 90.7 ± 6.8% after 2 d 3D encapsulation in the hydrogel. In vivo tests indicate that the hydrogels can effectively stop bleeding when the hydrogel is directly injected into a rabbit liver incision. The total blood loss is reduced from 0.65 ± 0.10 g to 0.29 ± 0.11 g, and the hemostasis time is decreased from 167 ± 21 s to 120 ± 10 s, when compared to a gauze treatment with physical compression. These self-healing hydrogels have potential to be used as a novel hemostatic material.
Keywords: 3D cell encapsulation; carboxymethyl chitosan; four-arm polyethylene glycol; self-healing hydrogels; stop bleeding.
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