Functionalized organic nanotubes with highly tunable crosslinking site density for mechanical enhancement and pH-controlled drug release of nanocomposite hydrogels

Organic nanotubes (ONTs) have attracted growing attention in biomedical applications because of their unique inner and outer nanospaces. Here, ONTs were functionalized and hybridized with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to construct nanocomposite hydrogels, with the aim of enhancing their mechanical strength and controlling their release properties. These nanoengineered hydrogels have 4-fold greater mechanical stiffness than unreinforced hydrogels and show a more stable network. The effects of ONT concentration and crosslinkable site density on the hydrogel mechanical properties were systematically assessed. Moreover, the incorporation of ONTs enabled simple and effective post-loading of the model drug, as well as a sustained drug release profile from the hydrogels. These results provide a novel method to generate mechanically enhanced nanocomposite hydrogels with improved drug delivery in an easy, efficient and tunable manner, and the obtained nanocomposite hydrogels may have potential applications in drug delivery and other related bioapplications. Organic nanotubes (ONTs) were functionalized and hybridized with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to generate mechanically enhanced nanocomposite hydrogels with improved drug delivery in an easy, efficient and tunable manner. These nanoengineered hydrogels have 4-fold greater mechanical stiffness than unreinforced hydrogels and show a more stable network. The incorporation of ONTs enabled simple and effective post-loading of the model drug, as well as a sustained drug release profile from the hydrogels.