Dual-crosslinked networks of superior stretchability and toughness polyacrylamide-carboxymethylcellulose hydrogel for delivery of alendronate

Hydrogels have been widely applied in biomedical, bionic, and intelligent devices. However, pure hydrogels suffer from poor elasticity and mechanical properties, which severely limit their application. Employing dual-crosslinked networks, comprising simultaneous existence of chemical and physical crosslinks, is an effective approach to circumvent these limitations. In this study, the zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) and alendronate loaded ZIF-8 ([email protected]) nanoparticles were synthesized by one-pot method. Then, by incorporating ZIF-8 or [email protected] nanoparticles, the dual-crosslinked hydrogel consisting of hydrophilic polyacrylamide (PAM), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was developed. Furthermore, the mechanical properties were measured using a universal testing machine. The results showed that the hydrogel exhibited superior tensile properties, compression properties, storage modulus (G′), and loss modulus (G″) in 10 wt% ZIF-8 nanoparticles. Therefore, considering the superior mechanical properties, the 10 wt% hydrogels were selected as promising candidates as Aln delivery carriers with a high loading capacity (63.83%) and a longer releasing profile (6 d), which might be a potential application in tissue engineering.