Serra Gómez, RafaelDreiss, Cecile A.González Benito, Francisco JavierGonzalez Gaitano, Gustavo2020-11-162020-11-162016-06-28Rafael Serra-Gómez, Cécile A. Dreiss, Javier González-Benito, and Gustavo González-Gaitano Langmuir 2016 32 (25), 6398-64080743-7463https://hdl.handle.net/10016/31426We report the preparation of a nanocomposite hydrogel based on a poloxamine gel matrix (Tetronic T1107) and cyclodextrin (CD)-modified barium titanate (BT) nanoparticles. The micellization and sol-gel behavior of pH-responsive block copolymer T1107 were fully characterized by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy as a function of concentration, pH and temperature. SANS results reveal that spherical micelles in the low concentration regime present a dehydrated core and highly hydrated shell, with a small aggregation number and size, highly dependent on the degree of protonation of the central amine spacer. At high concentration, T1107 undergoes a sol-gel transition, which is inhibited at acidic pH. Nanocomposites were prepared by incorporating CD-modified BT of two different sizes (50 and 200 nm) in concentrated polymer solutions. Rheological measurements show a broadening of the gel region, as well as an improvement of the mechanical properties, as assessed by the shear elastic modulus, G' (up to 200% increase). Initial cytocompatibility studies of the nanocomposites show that the materials are nontoxic with viabilities over 70% for NIH3T3 fibroblast cell lines. Overall, the combination of Tetronics and modified BaTiO3 provides easily customizable systems with promising applications as soft piezoelectric materials.eng© 2016 American Chemical SocietyBlock copolymersGraphene oxideCancer therapyGene deliveryCell linesPolymerBehaviorGelatinBiomaterialsNanocrystalsresearch articleMaterialeshttps://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b01544open access6398256408Langmuir32AR/0000018099