Effect of pH Buffer on Self-Healing Hydrogel

Autonomous healing of damage is a common phenomenon in living organisms but is hardly ever encountered in synthetic materials. Disulfide chemistry is used to introduce a self-healing ability in a covalently cross-linked hydrogel. This result is achieved by introducing disulfide groups in the network that are able to exchange, leading to renewal of cross-links across the damaged surfaces. ATR results showed that C=C had disappeared once the gel was formed and the percentage of gel fraction is 86 %. The gel being cut shows highest healing efficiency in borax-sodium hydroxide buffer (pH 10) which is 95 %. The combination of this unique self-healing properties and applicability for a large variety of polymers makes this approach ideal for biomedical applications. (author)