Photolatently modulable hydrogels using unilamellar titania nanosheets as photocatalytic crosslinkers

• Published in: Nature communications 2013-06, Vol.4 (1), p.2029-2029
• Main Authors: Liu, Mingjie, Ishida, Yasuhiro, Ebina, Yasuo, Sasaki, Takayoshi, Aida, Takuzo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/301/923/1027; 639/301/930/1032; 639/638/439; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3029

Hydrogels, postmodulable in controlled time and space domains, attract particular attention due to their potential in bio-related applications. Towards this goal, photolatently reactive hydrogels are very promising. Here we develop photolatently modulable hydrogels, composed of a polymer network accommodating photocatalytic titania nanosheets at every crosslinking point. As titania nanosheets can utilize gelling water as their source of radicals, its long-lasting photocatalysis makes the hydrogels readily modulable. Benefiting from the hydrogelation mechanism, the gel network is finely compartmentalized, leading to sharp thermoresponses. As demonstrated by photo-micropatterning, non-diffusible titania nanosheets at the crosslinking points enable pointwise modulations with an excellent spatial resolution. The photolatent nature also makes it possible to conjugate them with other hydrogels and polymers. Postsynthetic modulation of the structural properties of hydrogels is desirable for a range of biomaterials applications. Here, the authors fabricate photolatently modulable polymer hydrogels crosslinked by titania nanosheets, which may be micropatterned with high spatial and temporal resolution.