In this study, an innovative polymer blend, based on double network (DN) approach, has been developed by integrating a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) network into a chemically modified hyaluronic acid sodium salt (HAs) hydrogel matrix. Here, the HAs was chemically functionalized with photocrosslinkable moieties by reacting with maleic anhydride (MAA) to obtain a maleated hyaluronic acid (MaHA). Furthermore, nanocomposite DN hydrogels were suitably prepared by physical blending of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAp), obtained by sol-gel synthesis, within the hydrogel. Physico-chemical, thermal, morphological and mechanical analyses were performed. Results showed enhanced mechanical properties and a homogenous microstructure as highlighted by mechanical and morphological investigations. This suggests that nanocomposite DN hydrogels are promising candidates for biomedical applications.
Keywords: PEGDA; double network; hyaluronic acid derivative; nanocomposite; sol-gel method.