Degradation study of different oxidized alginate /gelatine hydrogels

 

Investigator: Michael Geske (Bachelor student) 

Michael Geske

 

Supervisors: Jonas Hazur, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini


Degradation is a key parameter to fine tune when producing scaffolds for tissue engineering. As the scaffold should be a temporary support for the cells to attach, grow and proliferate but should be finally replaced by new tissue, its time dependent properties are crucial to successfully regenerate and repair tissue, this being specially important for hydrogels embedding cells. In order to model the influence of ionic crosslinking on the degradation behaviour of alginate based hydrogels (oxidized alginate/gelatine [1]), different methods are being investigated in this project. The main focus lies on the mechanical degradation over time, which will be investigated via compression strength tests and nanoindentation. Moreover, weight loss and swelling measurements will be utilized to assess structural changes. Therefore, different materials with varying crosslinking times, crosslinking ions and crosslinking concentrations will be examined. To study the influence of pre-crosslinking on the degradation kinetics, hydrogels with and without pre-crosslinking will be investigated.

[1] Supachai Reakasame and Aldo R. Boccaccini; “Oxidized Alginate-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications: A Review”; Biomacromolecules 2018, vol. 19, 3-21