Temperature-regulated aggregation-induced emissive self-healable hydrogels for controlled drug delivery

Abstract

Self-healable hydrogels are very attractive to bioscience and biotechnology, for use in drug loading and delivery, artificial organs, and bioswitches. In this research, thermoresponsive copolymers TPE-[P(DMA-stat-DAA)]₂ containing a tetraphenylethylene (TPE) moiety and a ketone group were synthesized. The TPE unit in the middle gave the copolymer chains thermoregulated AIE properties and an LCST around body temperature. The self-healable hydrogels were prepared with a dynamic acylhydrazone bond through dihydrazide cross-linking, and the light emission properties were regulated by a thermosensitive enhanced AIE mechanism. As a result, the AIE properties were imported into the new thermoresponsive self-healable hydrogels to achieve temperature-regulated light emission properties. The in vitro cytotoxicity experiments showed that the hydrogels were biocompatible and the hydrogels showed a pH sensitive drug release profile. This kind of thermoresponsive light emission hydrogel may hold great potential for biodiagnosis, drug loading and delivery, and tissue engineering with light sensitive detection.