Elastin-like recombinamer catalyst-free click gels: Characterization of poroelastic and intrinsic viscoelastic properties

Elastin-like recombinamer catalyst-free click gels (ELR-CFCGs) have been prepared and characterized by modifying both a structural ELR (VKVx24) and a biofunctionalized ELR-bearing RGD cell-adhesion sequence (HRGD6) to bear the reactive groups needed to form hydrogels via a click reaction. Prior to formation of the ELR-CFCGs, azide-bearing and cyclooctyne-modified ELRs were also synthesized. Subsequent covalent crosslinking was based on the reaction between these azide and cyclooctyne groups, which takes place under physiological conditions and without the need for a catalyst. The correlation among SEM micrographs, porosity, swelling ratio, and rheological measurements have been carried out. The storage and loss moduli at 1 Hz are in the range 1–10 kPa and 100–1000 Pa, respectively. The linear dependence of |G∗| on f½ and the peak value of tan δ were considered to be consistent with a poroelastic mechanism dominating the frequency range 0.3–70 Hz. The discrete relaxation spectrum was obtained from stress relaxation measurements (t > 5 s). The good fit of the relaxation modulus to decrease exponential functions suggests that an intrinsic viscoelastic mechanism dominates the transients. Several recombinamer concentrations and temperatures were tested to obtain gels with fully tuneable properties that could find applications in the biomedical field.