Non-swelling Hydrogel with Regenerable High Wet Tissue Adhesion for Bioelectronics.

Reducing the swelling of tissue-adhesive hydrogels is crucial for maintaining stable tissue adhesion and inhibiting tissue inflammation. However, reported strategies for reducing swelling always result in a simultaneous decrease in the tissue adhesive strength of the hydrogel. Furthermore, once the covalent bond breaks in the currently reported hydrogel, they cannot be rebuilt, and the hydrogel loses its tissue adhesive ability. Here, a nonswelling hydrogel (PAACP) possessing regenerable high tissue adhesion was synthesized by copolymerizing and crosslinking polyvinyl butyral with acrylic acid, gelatin, and chitosan-grafted N-acetyl-L-cysteine. The tissue adhesive strength of the obtained PAACP reaches 211.4 kPa which is approximately ten times higher than that of the reported nonswelling hydrogels, and the hydrogel could be reused for multiple cycles. The as-prepared hydrogel showed great potential in soft bioelectronics, as muscle fatigue was successfully monitored via the electrode array and strain sensor integrated on PAACP substrates. The success of these bioelectronics offers potential applicability in the long-term diagnosis of muscle-related health conditions and prosthetic manipulations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.