Facile synthesis and performance of pH/temperature dual-response hydrogel containing lignin-based carbon dots

This study demonstrated a facile method to synthesize lignin-based carbon dots (L-CDs) first. Results indicated that the L-CDs had a diameter of 2–5 nm and a graphene-like crystalline structure. It was found that under the optimal synthesis conditions, the fluorescence lifetime of L-CDs was about 12 ns. Within the range of pH 1–10, the fluorescence intensity of the L-CDs and pH value followed a linear relationship. With the contribution of L-CDs, pH/temperature dual responsive hydrogel was synthesized. The elastic modulus G′ of hydrogel was much higher than viscous modulus G″. When the PVA content was larger than 10 wt%, the temperature sensitivity and water retention rate gradually decreased. The skeleton of hydrogels had a typical porous honeycomb structure, which made it possible to control its internal pore size by adjusting the content of PVA. There was a linear relationship between the fluorescence intensity of hydrogels and pH value in the range of pH 1–7. Therefore, the pH/temperature dual responsive hydrogel presented a new route for designing tissue engineering scaffolds and drug carriers.