Figure 1.
Schematic depicting the synthesis of the nanoparticle—hydrogel composites. Approximately 240 nm silica NPs were fabricated utilizing a modified Stober method. The resulting NPs were dispersed in a 1:1 -ene/thiol solution of PEG4NB and CYKC (cysteine tyrosine lysine cysteine) oligopeptide and exposed to UV radiation, initiating the thiol—ene polymerization and producing the nanocomposite. Increasing concentrations of the PEGNB and CYKC resulted in more swollen and therefore more red-shifted gels.