ABSTRACT
Hydrogels— three-dimensional hydrophilic polymer networks in which a large amount of water is interposed—may be suitable for this purpose. This chapter reports a bacterial nanocellulose (BNC)-based biocompatible hydrogel with high mechanical strength and reversible swelling after repeated compression cycles, developed by combining BNC with natural polymers such as gelatin, as well as synthetic ones such as polyacrylamide, using the technique known as the double-network (DN). Concerning the mechanical deterioration observed in each DN hydrogel, two mechanisms are considered: biodegradation and simple degradation of the polymer network that would occur over time. The ultimate compressive stress of the BNC-based DN hydrogels tested in the present study is greater than that of the previously described natural cartilage. The BNC-based DN hydrogel has been successfully developed from natural as well as synthetic polymers, having not only a mechanical strength as great as several megapascals, on the order of that for cartilage, ligament, and tendon.
