Ultra-high strength poly(N-(2-hydroxyethyl)acrylamide)/chitosan hydrogel with “repelling and killing” bacteria property

Hydrogels with good mechanical properties are promising for various applications. In this work, a simple yet effective method for preparing a novel double-network hydrogel was reported. First, nonfouling polymer, poly(N-(2-hydroxyethyl)acrylamide) (PHEAA), was crosslinked through covalent bonds. Antibacterial polysaccharide, chitosan (CS), was then crosslinked by chelation between the N-glucosamine units on the CS and citrate or sulfate ions. The poly(N-(2-hydroxyethyl)acrylamide)/chitosan double-network hydrogels (PHEAA/CS DN hydrogels) exhibited high tensile strength (3.8 MPa), strong elastic modulus (0.6 MPa). And the dynamic ionic crosslinking in CS network provided the DN gels with fast self-recovery ability as well as excellent fatigue resistance. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the DN gels were enhanced after stretching and relaxing because of the molecular orientation and reconstruction of chitosan network. More importantly, the hydrogels have excellent antifouling and antibacterial properties, which is called "repelling and killing", making them competitive candidates for applications in the biomedical field.