A Comparative Study Between Gelatin Methacrylate and Itaconic Acid Functionalized Gelatin Hydrogels

Hydrogels are a popular group of biomaterials widely explored for their ability to serve in the biomedical applications like drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) is a common hydrogel material because of its biocompatibility along with the ability to modify its properties. This research focuses on developing a new form of hydrogel known as Gelatin itaconic acid (GelIA), which is a functionalised gelatin and chiefly intends to draw a comparison between the characteristics and application of the developed hydrogel with GelMA. The importance of such a comparison lies in the assignation of an opportunity to search for other hydrogels with better characteristics for some certain biomedical uses. The purpose of this study is to obtain and analyse new type of hydrogel GelIA and compare them with GelMA with regards to their chemical composition, swelling characteristics and rheologic characteristics. With this objective in mind, this comparative analysis aims at comparing the possibilities of applying GelIA hydrogels in biomedical fields depending on the stability of obtained hydrogels, their mechanical characteristics and pH sensitivity. Hydrogels from gelatin were prepared under the following conditions: gelatin dissolution in distilled water and subsequent addition of 1H-Benzotriazole hydrate, methacrylamide itaconic acid, and sodium-N-lauroylsarcosinate. structural characterization of the hydrogels was done using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to understand the chemical structure and composition of the hydrogels and further we confirmed that methacrylate and itaconic acid has been appended onto the hydrogels. Swelling experiments were performed under different pH solution media to investigate the hydrodynamic characteristics of the hydrogels as well as their stability after 2 days. Frequency sweep and stress relaxation tests were performed to determine rheological properties of the hydrogels. Using NMR, the successful modification of gelatin with methacrylate and itaconic acid was affirmed and the chemical structures for GelMA and GelIA hydrogels displayed clear differences. Swelling studies showed that GelIA hydrogels possessed greater stability than GelMA hydrogels across all studied pHs at period for up to 48 hours. More specifically, semi-IPN GelIA hydrogels had a lower extent of swelling and a lower hydrolytic degradation rate, implying better resistance to hydrolytic degradation. Together, the findings showed that it is possible to achieve appropriate levels of mechanical properties in both types of hydrogels. According to rheological study, both forms of hydrogels have desirable mechanical characteristics. Notably, GelIA hydrogels exhibit remarkable viscoelasticity, implying that they have the potential for improved performance in load-bearing applications in tissue engineering. According to the study, GelIA hydrogels have better stability and viscoelasticity than GelMA hydrogels. These properties point to GelIA hydrogels' potential uses in a variety of healthcare domains, including drug delivery systems, tissue engineering scaffolds, and regenerative medicine. To properly evaluate these hydrogels' potential for clinical uses, future research should focus on conducting in vivo studies and testing their long-term stability.