Bionic ordered structured hydrogels: structure types, design strategies, optimization mechanism of mechanical properties and applications

Yanyan Wang, Xinyu Jiang, Xusheng Li, Kexin Ding, Xianrui Liu, Bin Huang, Junjie Ding, Keyu Qu, Wenzhi Sun, Zhongxin Xue and Wenlong Xu

Mater. Horiz., 2023, 10, 4033
DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00326D

High-strength fibrous sensors with an enhanced aggregate state for biomechanical monitoring of the Achilles tendon

Ying Guo, Ting Yan, Han Gao, Luyi Sun, Shuanglei Wei, Jun Chen, Yanhong Wei, Guoyin Chen, Kai Hou and Meifang Zhu

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2024, 12, 10605
DOI: 10.1039/D4TB01255K

A homochiral tartrate-bridged dinuclear chromium(iii) complex anion with a resonance-assisted hydrogen bond for proton conduction

Marko Dunatov, Zhibo Zhao, Dijana Žilić and Lidija Androš Dubraja

Dalton Trans., 2024, 53, 9315
DOI: 10.1039/D4DT00783B

Developing tough, fatigue-resistant and conductive hydrogels via in situ growth of metal dendrites

Mengjie Si, Yueman Tang, Chen Xu, Chen Yu Li, Kaishun Xia, Wei Xu, Ji Lin, Zhen Jiang, Jintao Yang and Si Yu Zheng

Mater. Horiz., 2025, 12, 1452
DOI: 10.1039/D4MH01778A

Metal-phenolic self-assembly shielded probiotics in hydrogel reinforced wound healing with antibiotic treatment

Chen Zhou, Yaping Zou, Ruiling Xu, Xiaowen Han, Zhen Xiang, Hao Guo, Xing Li, Jie Liang, Xingdong Zhang, Yujiang Fan and Yong Sun

Mater. Horiz., 2023, 10, 3114
DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00033H

Preparation schemes and applications of multifunctional PVA composite hydrogels

Yunge Liu, Jing Zhang and Dianyu Wang

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025, 508, 160946
DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.160946

Design principles in mechanically adaptable biomaterials for repairing annulus fibrosus rupture: A review

Dan Zhou, Hongmei Liu, Zhaomin Zheng and Decheng Wu

Bioactive Materials, 2024, 31, 422
DOI: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2023.08.012

Bioinspired design of strong, tough and slippery hydrogels beyond the natural soft tissues

Kai Chen, Qin Chen, Xiaodong Yan, Xinyue Zhang, Haiyan Feng, Cunao Feng, Xiaowei Li, Dekun Zhang and Shirong Ge

Materials Today Chemistry, 2025, 45, 102633
DOI: 10.1016/j.mtchem.2025.102633

Ultra Strong and Tough Bio‐Based Polyurethane Elastomers with Rigid‐Flexible Hybrid Soft Segment Supramolecular Cross‐linked Networks

Ke Zheng, Ao Guo, Xueqin Li, Yanyan Lin, Shengting Zhang, Runhuai Yang, Wanqi Jia, Mingye Yu, Xianfeng Wang and Cong Sui

Adv Funct Materials, 2025
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202509794

Skin‐Inspired, Highly Sensitive, Broad‐Range‐Response and Ultra‐Strong Gradient Ionogels Prepared by Electron Beam Irradiation

Shuai Hao, Zhiyan Chen, Haozhe Li, Jushigang Yuan, Xihao Chen, Alexander Sidorenko, Jiang Huang and Yanlong Gu

Small, 2024, 20
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202309931

Freeze-enabled synthesis of functional materials: fundamental, progress, and applications

Yunfeng Bai and Haifei Zhang

Progress in Materials Science, 2026, 155, 101523
DOI: 10.1016/j.pmatsci.2025.101523

Bioinspired hydrogels thriving in harsh conditions: Where soft materials conquer hard challenges

Lichao Jiang, Zhihua Sha, Yong Zheng, Ruijie Zhu, Chengtao Yu, Qiang Chen, Rong Ran and Wei Cui

Progress in Materials Science, 2025, 152, 101459
DOI: 10.1016/j.pmatsci.2025.101459

Water Transport‐Modulated Highly Compressive Hydrogel for Total Biomimetic Sensing Intervertebral Disc

Xiaoli Fan, He Zhu, Jingming Wang, Ziyi Dai, Shan Zhang, Weimin Huang, Rong Cai and Kai Qian

Small Methods, 2025, 9
DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202500292

Tuning mechanical behaviors of highly entangled hydrogels with the random distribution of mobile entanglements

Jinlong Liu, Di Lu and Bin Chen

Appl. Math. Mech.-Engl. Ed., 2024, 45, 277
DOI: 10.1007/s10483-024-3076-8

Recent progress of hydrogel-based biomimetic articular cartilage in mechanical and lubricated enhancement

Qin Chen, Kai Chen, Xinyue Zhang, Haiyan Feng, Cunao Feng, Xiaowei Li and Dekun Zhang

Friction, 2025
DOI: 10.26599/FRICT.2025.9440984

Fatigue-resistant and super-tough thermocells

Lili Liu, Ding Zhang, Peijia Bai, Yanjie Fang, Jiaqi Guo, Qi Li and Rujun Ma

Nat Commun, 2025, 16
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57233-7

Multifunctional, superelastic, and environmentally stable sodium alginate/mxene/polydimethylsiloxane aerogels for piezoresistive sensor

Songjiu Han, Qirui Wu, Jundong Zhu, Jiayu Zhang, Anbang Chen, Yujia Chen, Xiaoxiang Yang, Jianren Huang and Lunhui Guan

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023, 471, 144551
DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.144551

Preparation and property of high strength PVA-PEI- MWCNTs-COOH hydrogel using annealing treatment

Ziyu Wang, Gege Shi, Yanyang He, Ranran Wu, Yufang Hu, Sui Wang and Jie Mao

J Polym Res, 2024, 31
DOI: 10.1007/s10965-024-04211-0

Recent advances in 3D printable conductive hydrogel inks for neural engineering

Sung Dong Kim, Kyoungryong Kim and Mikyung Shin

Nano Convergence, 2023, 10
DOI: 10.1186/s40580-023-00389-z

PEG-engineered semi-interpenetrating network hydrogel with superior deformability and robustness for ultra-sensitive pressure sensing

Shuxian Sun, Guoxu Zhang, Xiaolong Li, Tao Li, Mengyuan Fu, Qiming Han, Hanna He, Xin Tang and Chuhong Zhang

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2025, 698, 138019
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138019

Biomimetic Mineralization: From Microscopic to Macroscopic Materials and Their Biomedical Applications

Yusai Zhou, Kai Liu and Hongjie Zhang

ACS Appl. Bio Mater., 2023, 6, 3516
DOI: 10.1021/acsabm.3c00109

Bioinspired Structure with Hierarchical Hydrogen Bonding and Metal Coordination for Enhanced Properties of Biobased Polyurethane Applied in Artificial Ligaments

Junjie Wang, Xiaoyu Dong, Haojie Qiu, Zhixiu Liu, Yufeng Kang, Jinghua Du, Xuefeng Yang, Xue-liang Li and Yunsheng Ding

Chem. Mater., 2025, 37, 1609
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c03228

Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)-Based Hydrogels: Recent Progress in Fabrication, Properties, and Multifunctional Applications

Xiaoxu Liang, Hai-Jing Zhong, Hongyao Ding, Biao Yu, Xiao Ma, Xingyu Liu, Cheong-Meng Chong and Jingwei He

Polymers, 2024, 16, 2755
DOI: 10.3390/polym16192755

Fatigue-resistant Hydrogels

Luofei Li, Hai Lei and Yi Cao

Chem. Res. Chin. Univ., 2024, 40, 64
DOI: 10.1007/s40242-023-3250-7

Super Strong and Tough PVA Hydrogel Fibers Based on an Ordered‐to‐Disordered Structural Construction Strategy Targeting Artificial Ligaments

Yanting Chen, Xiaoning Sun, Longbo Luo, Hongxiang Li, Ning Chen, Cenqi Yan, Xiangyang Liu, Jianshu Li, Meng Qin, Jiaqiang Qin and Pei Cheng

Adv Funct Materials, 2025, 35
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202415737

Strong and Fatigue‐Resistant Hydrogels via Poor Solvent Evaporation Assisted Hot‐Stretching for Tendon Repair

Huamin Li, Ying Zhang, Haidi Wu, Zhanqi Liu, Cheng Guan, Jin Zhang, Jingyi Chen, Shaohua He, Xuewu Huang, Wancheng Gu, Yiu Wing Mai and Jiefeng Gao

Advanced Science, 2025, 12
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202503697

A highly realistic hydrogel-based simulated vascular model for Surgical Hemostasis training

Zhihao Zhu, Liang Ma, Junjie Wu, Yunfang Bai, Jinlei Mao, Jinshuang Su, Minjun Xia, Menghui Zhou, Qiutong Man, Aikebaier Aili, Zheng Wang, Jing Zhang and Zhifei Wang

Composites Communications, 2025, 54, 102275
DOI: 10.1016/j.coco.2025.102275

Advances in artificial ligament biomaterials for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: material innovation, surface modification, and novel adjuvant methods

Xinting Feng, Zhiwen Luo, Haojun Shi, Shuo Chen, Chen Chen, Peng Chen, Shaowei Zheng, Renwen Wan, Qing Wang, Zhiwei Li, Chengshou Lin, Yanwei He, Zhijie Zhao, Xintao Zhang, Xiaobo Zhou, Yisheng Chen, Yunxia Li, Qizhi Liu and Shiyi Chen

Adv Compos Hybrid Mater, 2025, 8
DOI: 10.1007/s42114-025-01307-z

Designing dynamic metal-coordinated hydrophobically associated mechanically robust and stretchable hydrogels for versatile, multifunctional applications in strain sensing, actuation and flexible supercapacitors

Ashis Ghosh, Sangita Pandit, Sudhir Kumar, Debabrata Ganguly, Santanu Chattopadhyay, Debabrata Pradhan and Rajat K. Das

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023, 475, 146160
DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.146160

Amphibious Polymer Materials with High Strength and Superb Toughness in Various Aquatic and Atmospheric Environments

Hongbo Wan, Baohu Wu, Lei Hou and Peiyi Wu

Advanced Materials, 2024, 36
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202307290

Strong and tough hydrogels fabricated through molecular and structural engineering and their biomedical applications

Zhiyuan Lu, Renwang Sheng, Wei Zhang and Jialin Chen

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025, 508, 160728
DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.160728

Collagen/polyvinyl alcohol scaffolds combined with platelet-rich plasma to enhance anterior cruciate ligament repair

Xiaohan Sun, Nanxin Zhang, Longhui Chen, Yuchao Lai, Shasha Yang, Qiang Li, Yunquan Zheng, Li Chen, Xianai Shi and Jianmin Yang

Biomaterials Advances, 2025, 169, 214164
DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2024.214164

A Mechanoluminescence‐Based Stress Sensing Hydrogel for Intelligent Artificial Ligament

Chunmei Yan, Xiao He, Bo Yu, Bo Zhou, Shaofan Fang, Jia Xu, Bin Liu and Zhaofeng Wang

Adv Funct Materials, 2025, 35
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202420142

Study on the mechanical properties of hydrogels enhanced by acryloyl‐functionalized polyethyleneimine cross‐links

Hongming Lv, Haoran Cao, Min Xu, Junrui Miao and Xiaosai Hu

J of Applied Polymer Sci, 2024, 141
DOI: 10.1002/app.55726

Anti‐Swelling, High‐Strength, Anisotropic Conductive Hydrogel with Excellent Biocompatibility for Implantable Electronic Tendon

Na Li, Qingyu Yu, Sidi Duan, Yingjie Du, Xiaojiao Shi, Xinyu Li, Tifeng Jiao, Zhihui Qin and Ximin He

Adv Funct Materials, 2024, 34
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202309500

3D Printed Silk Fibroin‐Based Hydrogels with Tunable Adhesion and Stretchability for Wearable Sensing

Kunlin Wu, Junwei Li, Yue Li, Hailu Wang, Yingchao Zhang, Binbin Guo, Jing Yu and Yifan Wang

Adv Funct Materials, 2024, 34
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202404451

Freezing-derived functional materials

Shuangshuang Miao, Yu Wang, Minhui Lu, Xiangdong Liu, Yongping Chen and Yuanjin Zhao

Materials Today, 2024, 74, 235
DOI: 10.1016/j.mattod.2024.03.002

Dynamically Cross-Linked Double-Network Hydrogels with Matched Mechanical Properties and Ideal Biocompatibility for Artificial Blood Vessels

Xue Yi Jia, Can Feng Huang, Xi Meng, Dong Yu Zhu, Zhi Peng Chen, Tao Jiang, Yi Zi Zeng and Mao Sheng Xu

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2024, 16, 28134
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c03063

Review on biomaterial applications of photoresponsive based chromophore Hydrogels: Recent developments and future perspectives

Mani Rajasekar, Venugopal Kavyashree, Elango Sangamithra, Pavithra Baskaran, Michelle Faustina Maria, Jennita Mary, Meenamigai Sivakumar and Masilamani Selvam

Results in Chemistry, 2024, 7, 101462
DOI: 10.1016/j.rechem.2024.101462

Comparative Roles of Hydrogels, Deep Eutectic Solvents, and Ionic Liquids in Enzyme-Based Biosensors, Bioelectronics and Biomimetics Devices

Fhysmélia Firmino de Albuquerque, Rodrigo Michelin Iost and Frank Nelson Crespilho

ACS Meas. Sci. Au, 2025, 5, 424
DOI: 10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.5c00036

A Review of Advanced Hydrogel Applications for Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery Systems as Biomaterials

Hoon Choi, Wan-Sun Choi and Jin-Oh Jeong

Gels, 2024, 10, 693
DOI: 10.3390/gels10110693

A Semi‐Interpenetrating Poly(Ionic Liquid) Network‐Driven Low Hysteresis and Transparent Hydrogel as a Self‐Powered Multifunctional Sensor

Shaowei Han, Yongkang Hu, Jia Wei, Songwei Li, Peipei Yang, Haoyang Mi, Chuntai Liu and Changyu Shen

Adv Funct Materials, 2024, 34
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202401607

Ultrafast self-gelling, superabsorbent, and adhesive chitosan-based hemostatic powders for rapid hemostasis and wound healing

Ashuang Liu, Shengyong Cui, Lei Song, Xiangshu Guo, Zhimao Huang, Shancan Wang, Kai Cheng, Ying Xiao, Youfen Fan and Rong Wang

Carbohydrate Polymers, 2025, 355, 123362
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2025.123362

Macromolecular Chain Aggregation-Induced Multiscale Reinforcement for Strong and Antifatigue Hydrogels

Wenqian Xing, Yongchuan Wu, Hechuan Zhang, Haidi Wu and Jiefeng Gao

ACS Materials Lett., 2025, 7, 1162
DOI: 10.1021/acsmaterialslett.4c02570

Hydrogel toughening resets biomedical application boundaries

Yitian Teng, Jiayu Chi, Jinjian Huang, Ze Li, Sicheng Li, Xiuwen Wu, Linyong Zhu and Jianan Ren

Progress in Polymer Science, 2025, 161, 101929
DOI: 10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2025.101929

Vapor Welding‐Assisted Electrospinning: Bioactive Composite Patch with Superior Mechanical Strength for Rotator Cuff Tears

Mengyuan Fu, Qiming Han, Xiaolong Li, Guoxu Zhang, Hongfu Jin, Shuxian Sun, Hanna He, Xin Tang and Chuhong Zhang

Adv Eng Mater, 2025
DOI: 10.1002/adem.202500960

PMD/TiO2 gel/aramid fabric synergistically toughened to build soft composites with high puncture resistance and rapid self-healing

Xiao Han, Jia-Horng Lin, Xia-Yun Zhang, Hao-Kai Peng, Li-Yan Liu, Lu Zhang, Ching-Wen Lou, Bing-Chiuan Shiu and Ting-Ting Li

Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 2024, 176, 107858
DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2023.107858

Recent developments and trends of biosensors based on carbon nanotubes for biomedical diagnosis applications: A review

Yan Zhang, Junfeng Guo, Zhaoxiang Tang, Chuyue Tang, Yiang Li, Xu Tao, Binghua Zhou, Wan Chen, Lin Guo, Kanglai Tang and Taotao Liang

Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X, 2024, 17, 100424
DOI: 10.1016/j.biosx.2023.100424

From Bench to Bedside: Hydrogel Platforms Bridging Anti‐Adhesion Barriers, Tissue Regeneration, and Personalized Postoperative Recovery

Ting Wang, Hanchao Zhou, Jiangchuan He, Yunhe Zheng, Jinpeng Wen, Yu Huang, Kailai Liu, Yuchen Zhang and Ke Wang

MedComm – Biomaterials and Applications, 2025, 4
DOI: 10.1002/mba2.70021

Synthesis of PVA-Based Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications: Recent Trends and Advances

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman Khan and Md. Mahamudul Hasan Rumon

Gels, 2025, 11, 88
DOI: 10.3390/gels11020088

Biomimetic All‐Weather Strong, Tough, and Fatigue‐Resistant Composite Organohydrogels for Electronic Artificial Ligaments

Gehong Su, Xiaotian Zhang, Yaping Zhou, Zhishuo Chen, Jin Feng, Yue Xu, Yongpeng Zhao, Chun Wu, Zhiwei Lu, Mengmeng Sun, Tao Zhou and Hanbing Rao

Small, 2025
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202504139

Highly Ordered Hierarchical Orientations Enabled Antimicrobial Hydrogels with Synchronized Mechanical‐Thermal Enhancement

Muzi Liao, Mengyi Li, Mengyang Niu, Baokai Wang, Chang Sun, Yunqi Yuan, Lifeng Zhu, Wenbin Cao and Qi Wang

Adv Funct Materials, 2025
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202518948

Anisotropic robust Poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels inspired by bio-tissue

Qifeng Jin, Suli Xing, Su Ju, Ya Cao, Ke Duan, Li Jin, Yulin Zhang, Yonglyu He, Jinyao Chen and Jianwei Zhang

Materials & Design, 2025, 250, 113613
DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2025.113613