Shear-thinning hydrogels derived from Vitamin B5 analogous methacrylamide (B5AMA)

Hydrogels are a three-dimensional network of synthetic or natural polymers that can take on vast amounts of water. Shear-thinning hydrogels are a specialized type of hydrogels that can be injected by shear stress which causes the hydrogel to flow and will self-heal after shear is removed. Shear thinning hydrogels have been studied for many different applications, including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and cryopreservation of cells, due to their benefits, which include biocompatibility and easy modification. This research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of shear-thinning hydrogels based on Vitamin B5 Analogous Methacrylamide (B5AMA). The synthesis of shear thinning hydrogels is carried out with different comonomer and crosslinker compositions, using free radical polymerization approach. The hydrogels are characterized for their swelling kinetics, dynamic light scattering, zeta-potential, lower critical solution temperature (LCST) determination and rheological behaviour. These materials are then studied for the applications in cryopreservation.