Slide-Ring Structure-Based Double-Network Hydrogel with Enhanced Stretchability and Toughness for 3D-Bio-Printing and Its Potential Application as Artificial Small-Diameter Blood Vessels

Artificial small-diameter blood vessels (SDBVs) are extremely limited in their thrombosis and still present significant clinical challenges worldwide. In recent years, 3D-bio-printing has offered a powerful technique to fabricate vessel channels in tissue engineering applications. Hydrogels are attractive bio-inks for SDBVs 3D-bio-printing, but they usually present weak mechanical properties. To overcome the weak mechanical properties of hydrogel bio-inks, a printable human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC)-laden polyrotaxane-alginate (PR-Alg) double-network (DN) hydrogel was fabricated. The PR-Alg DN hydrogel consists of a Ca2+ cross-linked alginate network to form the first network rapidly, and a photo-cross-linked slide-ring network was designed as the second network. By combining special hydrogel structures of slide-ring (SR) and double network (DN), we significantly improved the mechanical properties of hydrogels. The PR-Alg DN hydrogel provides excellent stress (199 ± 20 kPa) and strain (1239 ± 58%), and the fracture energy reaches 668 ± 80 J/m2. Additionally, due to the presence of biocompatible materials and the gentle 3D-bio-printing process, the 3D-bio-printed channels showed outstanding biocompatibility, particularly in HUVECs' survival and proliferation. We anticipate that this work will expand the application of hydrogels with improved mechanical properties in biomedicine, particularly for artificial SDBVs.