Team develops self-healing hydrogel for artificial cartilage, contact lenses
Marie Donlon | January 09, 2020Researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada, have turned waste from the fishing and forestry industries into substitute material for a host of petroleum-based products from food packaging to artificial cartilage.
University of Alberta professor Lingyun Chen and her team developed the material from recovered forestry and fishing waste, turning it into a hydrogel composed of crustacean shells and spruce trees.
The material, according to Chen, has good mechanical properties and can repair itself when torn. It is reportedly tough, stretchable and recovers its original shape following compression.
In hydrogel form, Professor Chen envisions using the material in biomedical applications including as an ingredient in contact lenses and pill capsules. Likewise, Chen believes that the material’s self-healing properties would make it ideal for artificial cartilage applications.
In nanobead form, Chen believes that the material could be used to target the delivery of drugs to tissues or specific organs while in film and fiber form, the material could be used in food packaging and water filtration applications.
Chen’s findings appear in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers.