Incorporating nanomaterials into hydrogels allows for the creation of versatile materials with properties that can be precisely tailored by manipulating their nanoscale structures, leading to a wide range of bulk properties. Investigating the structural and property characteristics of composite hydrogels is crucial in tailoring their performance for specific applications. This study focuses on investigating the correlation between the structural arrangement and properties of a composite hydrogel of thermoresponsive polymer, gelatin, and light-responsive antimicrobial porous gold nanorods, $PAuNR$. The rheo-mechanical properties of the composite hydrogels are correlated with their nanoscale structural characteristics, investigated using small-angle neutron scattering ($SANS$). Analysis of $SANS$ data reveals a decrease in the fractal dimension of $PAuNRs$ incorporated hydrogel matrix, as compared to pure gelatin. Incorporating $PAuNRs$ results in formation of softer composite hydrogel as evident from decrease in viscoelastic moduli, critical yield strain, denaturation temperature and swelling ratio. Our results demonstrates that the structural modulation at the nanoscale can be precisely controlled through adjusting $PAuNRs$ concentration and temperature providing an fabrication mechanism for hydrogels with desired elastic properties. The reduced elasticity of the composite hydrogel and light sensitive/antimicrobial property of the $PAuNRs$ makes this system suitable for specific biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, device fabrication and stimuli based controlled drug delivery devices respectively.
Dual Cross-Linked Hydrogels: Linear Rheology and Fractional Calculus Modeling
NanoEngineering Group, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology（以色列理工学院机械工程学院纳米工程组）；Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University（密歇根州立大学化学工程与材料科学系）
Biocompatible wearable touch panel based on ionically conductive organic hydrogels with anti-freezing, anti-dehydration, self-healing, and underwater adhesion properties
Mechanical response of a simple DNA nanostar hydrogel: symptoms of disorder and glassy emergence of solidity
Institut Néel-CNRS/UGA-Grenoble INP（内尔研究所）；LIMMS-CNRS/Institute of Industrial Science-The University of Tokyo（理化学研究所-东京大学工业科学研究所）；LIP-CNRS/ENS Lyon（里昂高等师范学校）；Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, Institut Lumière Matière（里昂第一大学）
