Document Type
Article
Version Deposited
Published Version
Open Access Funding Source
Open Access Publishing Fund
Publication Date
3-6-2023
Publication Title
AIMS Materials Science
DOI
10.3934/matersci.2023016
Abstract
Injectable polymers offer great benefits compared to other types of implants; however, they tend to suffer from increased mechanical wear and may need a replacement implant to restore these mechanical properties. The purpose of this experiment is to investigate an injectable hydrogel's self-healing ability to augment itself to a previously molded implant. This was accomplished by performing a tensile strength test to examine potential diminishing mechanical properties with increasing time, as well as dye penetration tests to examine the formation of interfacial bonds between healed areas of hydrogels. There were several time points in between injections that were explored, from 0 min between injections all the way up to 48 h in between injections. The tests showed no statistical differences of the increased injection times compared to the single injection for the tensile test. However, our results showed an increase of mechanical breaks at self-healed joints, as well as a linear regression test showed a decrease in dye diffusion rate as time between injections increase. These results show that the hydrogel has strong self-healing abilities, and as time between injections increase, they mechanical properties will slowly decrease. Based on this, the tests can be applied to other injectable implants and a noninvasive solution to a worn-down implant, as well as show scientific backing to a possibly unique and beneficial self-healing property.
Recommended Citation
Connor Castro, Zachary R. Brown, Erik Brewer. Self-healing properties of augmented injectable hydrogels over time. AIMS Materials Science, 2023, 10(2): 301-312. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2023016
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons, Materials Science and Engineering Commons
Comments
© 2023 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).
Publication of this article was supported by the 2022-23 Rowan University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund.