Versatile functionalization of polyester hydrogels with electroactive aniline oligomers

Functionalizing aliphatic polyester hydrogels with an aniline oligomer is a means of achieving electrically conductive and degradable hydrogels. To lower the aniline oligomer content while maintaining a high conductivity and to overcome the acidic degradation product from polylactide reported in our previous work, a series of electroactive and degradable hydrogels based on polycaprolactone (PCL) hydrogels and carboxyl-capped aniline pentamer (CCAP) were synthesized by a simple coupling reaction at room temperature. The reaction was carried out between the hydroxyl groups of hydroxyethylmethacrylate in a photopolymerized glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)-functionalized PCL-poly(ethylene glycol)-PCL degradable network and carboxyl group of CCAP, using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide as water-condensing agent and 4-dimethylaminopyridine as catalyst. The electroactivity of the hydrogels was verified by cyclic voltammetry, which showed three pairs of redox peaks. The electrical conductivities and swelling ratios of these hydrogels were controlled by the CCAP content, the poly(ethylene glycol) molecular weight in the macromer, and the crosslinking density of the hydrogels.