Single-Lipid Lamellar Hydrogels: from Gel Engineering to Soft Materials Design

Ghazi Ben Messaoud , Patrick Le Griel (1) , Sylvain Prevost (2) , Daniel Hermida-Merino (3) , Wim Soetaert (4) , Sophie Roelants (4) , Christian Stevens (5) , Niki Baccile (6)

1 LCMCP - Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris
2 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
3 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility [Grenoble]
4 InBio - Department of Biotechnology
5 UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University
6 LCMCP-SMiLES - Spectroscopie, Modélisation, Interfaces pour L'Environnement et la Santé

Lipid lamellar hydrogels are rare soft fluids composed of a phospholipid lamellar phase instead of isotropic fibrillary networks. The mechanical properties of these thermodynamic materials are controlled by defects, induced by local accumulation of a polymer or surfactant. In this work, we present a new class of kinetically-trapped, lipid lamellar hydrogels, composed of one single glycolipid, self-organizing into a biphasic lamellar fluid. Small angle x-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS, SANS), polarized light microscopy, rheology and rheo-SAXS show a gel with elastic modulus > 104 Pa possessing rheo-thinning properties with second-scale recovery, making it processable into soft 3D materials like beads or fibers, outclassing the properties of existing synthetic lamellar hydrogels. The properties and easy preparation methods open new perspectives in using biobased lamellar hydrogels in additive manufacturing, pharmacology or tissue engineering.

Domaines: Matériaux; Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

Ghazi Ben Messaoud, Patrick Le Griel, Sylvain Prevost, Daniel Hermida-Merino, Wim Soetaert, et al.. Single-Lipid Lamellar Hydrogels: from Gel Engineering to Soft Materials Design. 2019. ⟨hal-02351284v1⟩