Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Sutures and staples have been used as a standard to close wounds. However, they are associated with inflammation and local high-stress concentrations, leading to delayed healing and secondary injuries.  Given these concerns, bioadhesives have recently been a growing interest in their fast wound closure and non-complex procedures. But the bioadhesives in the water environment remain a challenge. The fast water absorption induces swelling and displacing of the adhesive molecules to fail the integration of the adhesive and the substrate. In light of this concern, the proposed Discovery program will study the hydrophilic and hydrophobic hydrogel network's impact on interfacial adhesion to develop a robust underwater adhesion. The program's long-term goal is to understand the biointerface interaction mechanism and to develop bioadhesives that can seal the leakage of the liquid and air in tissues and organs in a water-abundant environment. For this purpose, my HQP and I will address five short-term (1-5 years) objectives: 1) developing double-network hydrogels where the secondary network will be hydrophobic molecules in a hydrophilic primary network; 2) fabricating double hydrophobic polymer networks to study the adhesion strength; 3) developing an amphiphilic primary network to study the adhesion strength; 4) investigating and comparing the crosslinking effects by making in-situ crosslinkers and light-sensitive crosslinkers to anchor the hydrogel and the substrate; 5) studying the elastics and stiffness effects of the adhesives on the adhesive strength. For the methodology, the developed adhesive will be tested and investigated in vitro on glass, balloons, gelatin film, and pig skin model (ex vivo) in terms of mechanical properties, adhesive energy, and the interface morphology between the adhesive and the substrates under dry and wet conditions. The research is highly novel and original, which can lead to trailblazing advances in the highly efficient bioadhesives to repair bleeding tissues and organs in various wet environments to save people's lives. The proposed program contributes to pushing forward natural knowledge, and highly qualified personnel (HQP) will be cultivated to strengthen Canada's competitiveness in engineering and biomedical areas. Our exceedingly interdisciplinary research environment and diverse cultural atmosphere are remarkable to prepare HQP for the challenge of cutting-edge scientific technology and research & development in taking the lead in future. More than 30 HQPs have been trained since 2016. They are involved in academia and industry worldwide with the training in my program for their leadership, lifetime knowledge, critical thinking, and practical skills. My program is well recognized for developing new biomaterials to explore their applications in biomedical engineering, training young scientists, engineers and clinical doctors, and collaborating with international leaders in academia and industry.