Enhanced Mechanical Stability of Glycol Chitosan-based Thermogel via Dynamic Schiff Base Crosslinking for Long-term Cell Culture
발표자
팜황민 (충남대학교)
연구책임자
허강무 (충남대학교)
공동저자
팜황민 (충남대학교), 허강무 (충남대학교)
초록
내용
Injectable hydrogels combining shear-thinning behavior, rapid self-recovery, and long-term mechanical stability are crucial for biomedical applications. Herein, we report a glycol chitosan-based thermogel with mechanical robustness achieved through dual physical and dynamic crosslinking. The hybrid hydrogel was prepared by integrating thermoresponsive octanoyl glycol chitosan (OGC) with dialdehyde-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (DP), forming a dual-crosslinked network via temperature-induced physical gelation and reversible covalent imine bonding. The resulting thermogel exhibited excellent injectability, rapid in situ gelation, self-healing capability, and tunable mechanical properties. Notably, the dynamic Schiff base network significantly improved structural integrity and mechanical stability over extended periods. By adjusting DP content, gel stiffness and viscoelastic behavior were precisely controlled, supporting applications in long-term cell culture and tissue engineering.