Synthesis and characterization of photopolymerizable piezoelectric KNN-based methacrylated hyaluronic acid hydrogel scaffolds

Abstract

The use of methacrylated hyaluronic acid hydrogel (MeHA) has tremendous promise for regeneration purposes, while potassium sodium niobate (KNN) exhibits biocompatibility properties that make it suitable for biomedical applications. This study examined the synthesis and characterization of hybrid scaffolds composed of MeHA and KNN. The investigation focused on various aspects, including gelation time, micromorphology, topographic analysis, swelling behavior, changes in volume and degradation profiles, as well as mechanical properties, compared to MeHA alone scaffolds, along with the synthesis and characterization of KNN. The findings demonstrated that the incorporation of KNN into MeHA influenced some properties, including shorter gelation time and partial pore development. Nevertheless, a few notable differences between hybrid scaffolds and MeHA alone scaffolds were observed, while there were no substantial disparities overall. As a result, integrating KNN into MeHA has the potential to lead to further investigation, such as biological testing using different degrees of modification of MeHA, crosslinking systems, and KNN with variable sizes and piezoelectricity.