Injectable Hybrid-Crosslinked Hydrogels as Fatigue-Resistant and Shape-Stable Skin Depots

Abstract

Injectable hydrogels have gained considerable attention, but they are typically mechanically weak and subject to repeated physiological stresses in the body. Herein, we prepared polyurethane diacrylate (EPC–DA) hydrogels, which are injectable and can be photocrosslinked into fatigue-resistant implants. The mechanical properties can be tuned by changing photocrosslinking conditions, and the hybrid-crosslinked EPC–DA hydrogels exhibited high stability and sustained release properties. In contrast to common injectable hydrogels, EPC–DA hydrogels exhibited excellent antifatigue properties with >90% recovery during cyclic compression tests and showed shape stability after application of force and immersion in an aqueous buffer for 35 days. The EPC–DA hydrogel formed a shape-stable hydrogel depot in an ex vivo porcine skin model, with establishment of a temporary soft gel before in situ fixing by UV crosslinking. Hybrid crosslinking using injectable polymeric micelles or nanoparticles may be a general strategy for producing hydrogel implants resistant to physiological stresses.