Microorganism inspired hydrogels: fermentation capacity, gelation process and pore-forming mechanism under temperature stimulus

Abstract

Learning from the idea of food fermentation, a facile and environmentally benign method has been developed for the preparation of 3D microorganism inspired hydrogels (MIH). To clarify the effect of temperature on the fermentation capacity of yeast, bubble coalescence, gelation time, pore shape and swelling behavior of MIH, a series of temperatures from 25 °C to 50 °C were set to synthesise super-/macro-porous polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogels with fast response and hierarchical pore structure via an environmental friendly fermentation method. It is found that the gelation process of acrylamide and CO₂ gas foaming process of yeast fermentation play decisive roles in controlling the pore structure and swelling behavior of PAM hydrogels. A mutual benefit on the fermentation and unique porous structure make HSYT hydrogels potentially applicable for drug delivery systems, food industries and chemical separation.