Research results

In the last years, hydrogels have received a huge interest as very promising candidates for engineered tissue scaffolds. The ability to control the shape, porosity, surface morphology, and size of hydrogel scaffolds has created new opportunities to overcome various challenges in tissue engineering. One of the problem which still have not been overcame is related to poor mechanical properties of hydrogels at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. Thus, obtaining injectable magnetic hydrogels with mechanical properties controlled my external magnetic field is highly innovative approach and the magnetically susceptible hydrogels are very relevant area of the contemporary materials science.

The host research group that supports this proposal has remarkable experience in the field of tissue engineering from biocompatible hydrogels (including publications, patents and competitive projects awarded). It is worth noting that ferrogels have not been intensively studied in the literature as tissue engineering scaffolds so this area is mostly unexplored. Thus the proposed research on ferrogels as potential platforms for tissue engineering will give an opportunity to critically discuss various design considerations for an efficient ferrogels-based scaffolds in tissue engineering.

Formulation of injectable magnetic hydrogels, based on very short chain peptides, which have a suitable microstructure to generate extracellular matrices for soft tissues is an innovative approach. The importance of this approach (and the project itself) for the development of the discipline is significant since the proposed supramolecular approach can address two of the main disadvantages of currently available injectable hydrogels: (i) the absence of an adequate microstructure; (ii) poor control over its mechanical properties. This objective will be addressed simultaneously from the physical and chemical point of views, in order to create new supramolecular hydrogels with better properties.

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