Fig. 1

Characteristic of injectable ultrasound-powered nanocomposite hydrogels. (a) Optical photos of hydrogels forming. Scale bar represents 1 cm. (b) 3D image of the distribution of KBTO nanoparticles (red fluorescence) in the 0.1KBGO hydrogel. (c) SEM images of GO, 0.1KBGO, and 0.5KBGO hydrogels and embedded KBTO nanoparticles (dotted bordered ellipse). Scale bars represent 60 µm and 2 µm (higher magnification). (d) Oscillation time sweep rheological behaviors of GO, 0.1KBGO, and 0.5KBGO hydrogels. (e) Gel time of hydrogels with different KBTO nanoparticles content. (f) Storage modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G”) of hydrogels at different shear frequencies. (g) Storage modulus at an angular frequency of 10 Rad/s. (h) Shear-thinning properties and the injectability image of 0.1KBGO hydrogel. (i) The strain amplitude sweep test of 0.1KBGO hydrogel. (j) Optical photos and schematic illustration of the self-healing behavior of 0.1KBGO hydrogel. Scale bar represents 1 cm. ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test was performed for statistical analysis (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001)