Ion-Specific Gelation and Internal Dynamics of Nanocellulose Biocompatible Hybrid Hydrogels: Insights from Fluctuation Analysis
Hydrogels find widespread use in bioapplications for their ability to retain large amounts of water while maintaining structural integrity. In this article, we investigate hybrid hydrogels made of nanocellulose and either amino–polyethylenglycol or sodium alginates and we present two novel results:...
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2025-03-01
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| author | Arianna Bartolomei Elvira D’Amato Marina Scarpa Greta Bergamaschi Alessandro Gori Paolo Bettotti |
| author_facet | Arianna Bartolomei Elvira D’Amato Marina Scarpa Greta Bergamaschi Alessandro Gori Paolo Bettotti |
| author_sort | Arianna Bartolomei |
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| description | Hydrogels find widespread use in bioapplications for their ability to retain large amounts of water while maintaining structural integrity. In this article, we investigate hybrid hydrogels made of nanocellulose and either amino–polyethylenglycol or sodium alginates and we present two novel results: (1) the biocompatibility of the amino-containing hybrid gel synthesized using a simplified receipt does not require any intermediate synthetic step to functionalize either component and (2) the fluctuation in the second-order correlation function of a dynamic light scattering experiment provides relevant information about the characteristic internal dynamics of the materials across the entire sol–gel transition as well as quantitative information about the ion-specific gel formation. This novel approach offers significantly better temporal (tens of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="sans-serif">μ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>s) and spatial (tens of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="sans-serif">μ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>m) resolution than many other state-of-the-art techniques commonly used for such analyses (such as rheometry, SAXS, and NMR) and it might find widespread application in the characterization of nano- to microscale dynamics in soft materials. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2310-2861 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-e9902257f6c841c1be2f8a63cc8e80b92025-08-20T02:11:19ZengMDPI AGGels2310-28612025-03-0111319710.3390/gels11030197Ion-Specific Gelation and Internal Dynamics of Nanocellulose Biocompatible Hybrid Hydrogels: Insights from Fluctuation AnalysisArianna Bartolomei0Elvira D’Amato1Marina Scarpa2Greta Bergamaschi3Alessandro Gori4Paolo Bettotti5Nanoscience Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Trento, v. Sommarive 14, Povo, 38123 Trento, ItalyNanoscience Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Trento, v. Sommarive 14, Povo, 38123 Trento, ItalyNanoscience Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Trento, v. Sommarive 14, Povo, 38123 Trento, ItalyNational Research Council of Italy, Istituto di Chimica del Riconoscimento Molecolare (ICRM), Via Mario Bianco, 9, 20131 Milano, ItalyNational Research Council of Italy, Istituto di Chimica del Riconoscimento Molecolare (ICRM), Via Mario Bianco, 9, 20131 Milano, ItalyNanoscience Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Trento, v. Sommarive 14, Povo, 38123 Trento, ItalyHydrogels find widespread use in bioapplications for their ability to retain large amounts of water while maintaining structural integrity. In this article, we investigate hybrid hydrogels made of nanocellulose and either amino–polyethylenglycol or sodium alginates and we present two novel results: (1) the biocompatibility of the amino-containing hybrid gel synthesized using a simplified receipt does not require any intermediate synthetic step to functionalize either component and (2) the fluctuation in the second-order correlation function of a dynamic light scattering experiment provides relevant information about the characteristic internal dynamics of the materials across the entire sol–gel transition as well as quantitative information about the ion-specific gel formation. This novel approach offers significantly better temporal (tens of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="sans-serif">μ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>s) and spatial (tens of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="sans-serif">μ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>m) resolution than many other state-of-the-art techniques commonly used for such analyses (such as rheometry, SAXS, and NMR) and it might find widespread application in the characterization of nano- to microscale dynamics in soft materials.https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/11/3/197nanocellulosehydrogelsdynamic light scatteringsol–gel transitioncell culture |
| spellingShingle | Arianna Bartolomei Elvira D’Amato Marina Scarpa Greta Bergamaschi Alessandro Gori Paolo Bettotti Ion-Specific Gelation and Internal Dynamics of Nanocellulose Biocompatible Hybrid Hydrogels: Insights from Fluctuation Analysis Gels nanocellulose hydrogels dynamic light scattering sol–gel transition cell culture |
| title | Ion-Specific Gelation and Internal Dynamics of Nanocellulose Biocompatible Hybrid Hydrogels: Insights from Fluctuation Analysis |
| title_full | Ion-Specific Gelation and Internal Dynamics of Nanocellulose Biocompatible Hybrid Hydrogels: Insights from Fluctuation Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Ion-Specific Gelation and Internal Dynamics of Nanocellulose Biocompatible Hybrid Hydrogels: Insights from Fluctuation Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ion-Specific Gelation and Internal Dynamics of Nanocellulose Biocompatible Hybrid Hydrogels: Insights from Fluctuation Analysis |
| title_short | Ion-Specific Gelation and Internal Dynamics of Nanocellulose Biocompatible Hybrid Hydrogels: Insights from Fluctuation Analysis |
| title_sort | ion specific gelation and internal dynamics of nanocellulose biocompatible hybrid hydrogels insights from fluctuation analysis |
| topic | nanocellulose hydrogels dynamic light scattering sol–gel transition cell culture |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/11/3/197 |
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