Antibacterial hydrogels have gained significant attention as appealing materials, but their weak structures largely limit their practical applications. In this study, chitosan (CS)-based double-network antibacterial hydrogels were developed, where polyacrylamide (pAAm) attributed to the high mechanical property and [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride (MTAC) exerted the strong antibacterial activity, structured as CS/p(AAm-MATC). The structure and morphology of hydrogels with a ratio of pAAm and MTAC of 5:5 were preferred and analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, confirming the successful synthesis. The hydrogels had remarkable compression resistance, withstanding a high strain of 85% with excellent shape recovery. Rheological tests revealed that the samples exhibited characteristic behaviors of hydrogels, with the storage modulus surpassing the loss modulus and increasing with the angular frequency. Furthermore, the composite hydrogels had excellent antibacterial efficacy against Gram-positive (Listeria monocytogenes) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria, mainly attributed to the presence of quaternary ammonium groups in MTAC polymers. These hydrogels, with outstanding mechanical and antibacterial properties, hold promising potential for diverse applications, such as wastewater treatment.

Graphical Abstract

A tough double-network hydrogel is created by a combination of physical and chemical crosslinking methods, exerting high mechanical and enhanced antibacterial properties.

中文翻译：

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抗菌活性增强的壳聚糖/聚(丙烯酰胺-[2-(甲基丙烯酰氧基)乙基]三甲基氯化铵)双网络水凝胶的构建与表征

抗菌水凝胶作为有吸引力的材料而受到广泛关注，但其脆弱的结构在很大程度上限制了其实际应用。本研究开发了基于壳聚糖（CS）的双网络抗菌水凝胶，其中聚丙烯酰胺（PAAm）具有高机械性能，[2-（甲基丙烯酰氧基）乙基]三甲基氯化铵（MTAC）具有很强的抗菌活性，结构为 CS/p(AAm-MATC)。采用扫描电子显微镜、傅里叶变换红外光谱、固态核磁共振光谱和X射线衍射分析了pAAm和MTAC比例为5:5的水凝胶的结构和形貌，证实了成功合成。该水凝胶具有显着的抗压缩性，可承受 85% 的高应变，并具有出色的形状恢复能力。流变测试表明，样品表现出水凝胶的特征行为，储能模量超过损耗模量，并随着角频率的增加而增加。此外，复合水凝胶对革兰氏阳性菌（单核细胞增多性李斯特菌）和革兰氏阴性菌（大肠杆菌）具有优异的抗菌功效，这主要归因于MTAC聚合物中季铵基团的存在。这些水凝胶具有出色的机械和抗菌性能，在废水处理等多种应用中具有广阔的前景。

图形概要

通过物理和化学交联方法相结合，形成坚韧的双网络水凝胶，发挥高机械性能和增强的抗菌性能。