Biodegradable smart materials with self-healing and shape memory function for wound healing

Abstract

Notwithstanding the rapid development of suture elastomers to meet the needs of practical surgery, utilizing the elastomers' self-healing function as a surgical suture to facilitate the healing of wounds has not been addressed. Here, a biodegradable aliphatic polycarbonate smart elastomer, mPEG₁₁₃-b-PMBC_n, was synthesized from aliphatic polycarbonate monomer with methoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG₁₁₃, 5.0 kDa) as initiator, which exhibited excellent mechanical properties, highly efficient self-repairing, and remarkable shape memory behavior. The polymers possess outstanding self-healing ability for 150 min. Meanwhile, after 46.33 ± 1.18 s, the temporary shape of the obtained polymer had been recovered. The results of biocompatibility tests reveal that the polymers have excellent biocompatibility and can be regarded as good biomedical materials. Then, in vivo experiments were used to prove the self-healing knotting ability of the polymers and quickly close a wound surface using a programmed shape at physiological temperature. The results demonstrated that the injury wound can be effectively healed compared with traditional sutures, which will offer new study suggestions for subsequent healing areas.