A novel red fluorescent and dynamic nanocomposite hydrogel based on chitosan and alginate doped with inclusion complex of carbon dots

Red fluorescent hydrogels possessing injectable and self-healing properties have widespread potential in biomedical field. It is still a challenge to achieve a biomacromolecules based dynamic hydrogels simultaneously combining with excellent red fluorescence, good mechanical properties, and biocompatibility. Here we firstly exploited hydrophilic inclusion complex of (R-CDs@α-CD) derived from red fluorescent carbon dots (R-CDs) and α-cyclodextrin (α-CD), and then achieved a red fluorescent and dynamic polysaccharide R-CDs@α-CD/CEC-l-OSA hydrogel. The nanocomposite hydrogel can be fabricated through controlling dopant of red fluorescent R-CDs@α-CD into dynamic polymer networks, taking dynamic crosslinked N-carboxyethyl chitosan (CEC) and oxidized sodium alginate (OSA) as an example. The versatile hydrogel simultaneously combines the features of injection, biocompatibility, and augmented mechanical properties and self-healing behavior, especially in rapid self-recovery even after integration. The R-CDs@α-CD uniformly dispersed into dynamic hydrogel played the role of killing two birds with one stone, that is, endowing red fluorescence as a hydrophilic fluorescent substance, and improving mechanical and self-healing properties as a dynamic nano-crosslinker, via providing hydrogen bonds as reversible crosslinkings. The novel red fluorescent and dynamic hydrogel based on polysaccharides hold promise for using as biomaterials in biomedical field.