ABSTRACT
Hydrogels continue to be a leading material of choice for many biomedical applications. An increasing number of bioengineering tools are boosting our capacity to design these materials with higher precision, controlling their properties, and improving their functionality. This Chapter discussesleading strategies being used to engineer hydrogel materials with molecular control, increased complexity, and tuneable functionality. We first present approaches to create hydrogels through thiol-ene radical coupling with the capacity to control physical and chemical properties and be designed with specific bioactivity. We then present synthesis approaches based on peptide self-assembly and describe their design for applications in regenerative medicine. Finally, we discuss different ways to tune bioactivity including chemical modifications or functionalization through bioactive segments as well as processing techniques that can further enhance design precision and functionality.
