Abstract:
N-fluoren-methoxycarbonyl-D-Phenylalanine (Fmoc-
DPhe) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)-modified hyaluronic acid (HA-GMA) were mixed and heated in phosphoric acid buffer. After cooling, Fmoc-
DPhe molecules were self-assemble into supermolecular hydrogel followed by forming double network hydrogel with HA-GMA under UV light irradiation. The mechanical properties, optical properties, microstructure, drug release and bacteriostatic properties of the composite hydrogel were studied. The results show that the double-network hydrogels are about twice as strong as those of HA-GMA single-network hydrogel, and the HA-GMA network exists in the double-network hydrogels. Optical properties show the existence of Fmoc-
DPhe network in the double network hydrogels. The microstructure indicates that there are two kinds of hydrogel networks in the composite hydrogel. Moreover, after loading the drug, the double-network hydrogel takes 6 hours longer to reach the maximum drug accumulation rate than the Fmoc-
DPhe single-network hydrogel. The antibacterial activity of the double-network hydrogel against gram-positive bacteria is also better than that of the Fmoc-
DPhe single-network hydrogel.