Reinforcing Gels with Starch Granules through Chemical Modifications

Composites of particles and hydrogels are widely employed in industrial applications and serve as model systems for tissue engineering. The composite nature allows for more tunability from a larger parameter space of component properties. Here we design composites of starch granules and hydrogel matrices with mechanical properties that we tune by the concentration of starch granules and properties of the matrix. By chemically-modifying the starch granules, we alter the granule-polymer and granule-granule interactions to drive changes in the rheological properties of the composites. Regardless of chemical modification, the inclusion of starch granules strengthens hydrogels in a concentration dependent manner. However, chemical modifications to granules and the charge profile of the hydrogel matrix play important roles in the nature of the reinforcement and the resulting viscoelastic properties. Our work highlights the potential of chemically-modified starch granules to tailor the viscoelastic properties of hydrogels and composites for industrial and biomedical applications.

This project is funded by AFOSR Biomaterials FA9550-21-1-0361, Research Corporation for Science Advancement