Biocompatible and conductive hydrogels with tunable physical and electrical properties

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11028211-B2
Application number	US-201616061030-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2016
Priority date	Dec 29, 2015
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

A biodegradable and biocompatible hydrogel of tunable conductivity is provided. The hydrogel includes a polymer conjugated to a bio-ionic liquid. The mechanical and electrical properties of the hydrogel can be varied by altering the ratio of the polymer to the bio-ionic liquid in the conjugated polymer. These properties can be varied also by changing the percent weight of the conjugated polymer in the hydrogel. A method for preparing the hydrogel is also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A biocompatible conductive hydrogel comprising a biocompatible polymer conjugated to a first ionic constituent of a bio-ionic liquid;
wherein the bio-ionic liquid has a melting temperature less than 35° C.; and
wherein the biocompatible polymer and the first ionic constituent are conjugated via a diacrylate linker.

2. The conductive hydrogel of claim 1 , wherein the first ionic constituent of a bio-ionic liquid is selected from the group consisting of choline and other organic quaternary amines.

3. The conductive hydrogel of claim 2 , wherein the biocompatible polymer is selected from the group consisting of gelatin, elastin, elastin like polypeptides (ELP), collagen, hyaluronic acid (HA), tropoelastin, chitosan, alginate, poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and poly(lactic acid) (PLA).

4. The conductive hydrogel of claim 1 , wherein the conductivity of the hydrogel is at least about 3.0×10 −5 siemens/meter (S/m).

5. The conductive hydrogel of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the biocompatible polymer to the first ionic constituent is from about 1:4 to about 4:1 on a weight basis.

6. The conductive hydrogel of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogel is capable of supporting cell proliferation, tissue organization, and/or a function of an excitable cell, such as a nerve cell, a muscle cell, a cardiomyocyte, a fibroblast, a preosteoblast, an endothelial cell, or a mesenchymal stem cell.

7. The conductive hydrogel of claim 1 that is biodegradable.

8. The conductive hydrogel of claim 1 , wherein the first ionic constituent is positively charged.

9. A cell scaffold that enables electroactive modulation of cells bound to the scaffold, the scaffold comprising the hydrogel of claim 1 .

10. The cell scaffold of claim 9 , that further enables one or more of adhesion, proliferation, migration, and differentiation of the cells.

11. The cell scaffold of claim 9 , wherein the cells are selected from the group consisting of neurons, cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, preosteoblasts, endothelial cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and combinations thereof.

12. The cell scaffold of claim 9 , further comprising one or more types of cells bound to the scaffold.

Assignees

• Univ Northeastern

Inventors

• Annabi Nasim
• Noshadi Iman

Classifications

• C08F220/36

  containing oxygen in addition to the carboxy oxygen {, e.g. 2-N-morpholinoethyl (meth)acrylate or 2-isocyanatoethyl (meth)acrylate} · CPC title

• C08L5/04

  Alginic acid; Derivatives thereof · CPC title

• H01B1/12

  organic substances {(organic macromolecular compounds or compositions C08)} · CPC title

• C08L89/00

  Compositions of proteins; Compositions of derivatives thereof (foodstuff preparations A23J3/00) · CPC title

• C08F289/00

  Macromolecular compounds obtained by polymerising monomers on to macromolecular compounds not provided for in groups C08F251/00 - C08F287/00 · CPC title