Research Progress on MXene Composite Hydrogels in Biomedical

Engineering

Jiajia Su

School of Physical Science and Technology, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611756, China

Keywords: Hydrogel, MXene, Biocompatibility, Biomedicine.

Abstract: As a new type of 2D material, MXene has received extensive attention in recent years. With the excellent

superior physical and chemical properties, including a substantial specific surface area and flexible and

adaptable surface functional groups, MXene can be compounded with hydrogel to form MXene hydrogel.

This article systematically reviews the recent progress of MXene hydrogels in medical diagnosis and

treatment in latest years, and describes the basic properties of MXene and MXene hydrogels in related fields.

The focus is on the cutting-edge applications of MXene-based hydrogels in four areas: drug delivery,

photothermal therapy, biosensing, and tissue repair. At the same time, an overview of its limitations in various

fields is given, focusing on the uncertainty of long-term safety in vivo, the lack of clinical trials, instability in

the face of complex environments, and the low level of photothermal conversion efficiency. Finally, this

article discusses the challenges and prospective applications of MXene-based hydrogels in practical contexts,

addressing existing obstacles to unlock their capabilities in clinical and biomedical fields.

1 INTRODUCTION

Hydrogel is a kind of polymer material with a three-

dimensional network structure. Due to its good water

retention and biocompatibility, it also has broad

application prospects in the biomedical field.

However, traditional hydrogels have limitations such

as low conductivity, poor mechanical properties, and

slow response to external stimuli. In recent years,

MXene, as an emerging 2D material, has been widely

used to improve and modify the performance of

hydrogels. Compared with other two-dimensional

materials, MXene has excellent conductivity,

mechanical properties, hydrophilicity,

biocompatibility and other properties (Wang, Liang

& Zhang, 2024; Ren et al., 2023). This not only

makes up for the functional deficiencies of hydrogels

but also gives them new functional properties, such as

antibacterial properties, photothermal effects, etc.,

bringing new development opportunities for

biomedical materials (He et al., 2025).

This article comprehensively discusses and

summarizes the breakthrough progress of MXene

hydrogels in related biomedical fields in the past five

years and the challenges and opportunities that may

be encountered in the future. It aims to provide a

theoretical foundation and technological reference for

the research and development of the upcoming

generation of intelligent biomedical materials.

2 THE BASIC PROPERTIES OF

MXENE AND MXENE

HYDROGELS

MXene-based hydrogel is a novel kind of composite

material that has garnered a lot of interest due to its

distinct chemical and physical characteristics. It not

only has excellent mechanical qualities, which can

significantly improve hydrogel’s toughness and

strength , but also has good electrical conductivity,

which makes it show tremendous promise in the

domains of electronic devices and flexible sensors. In

addition, the photothermal performance of MXene-

based hydrogel is also very outstanding, which is

suitable for photothermal therapy and the preparation

of photothermal-driven materials. At the same time,

its good biocompatibility and certain antibacterial

properties give it broad application prospects in tissue

engineering and drug carriers. These comprehensive

properties make MXene-based hydrogels show

Su, J.

Research Progress on MXene Composite Hydrogels in Biomedical Engineering.

DOI: 10.5220/0013827300004708

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Innovations in Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy (IAMPA 2025), pages 445-450

ISBN: 978-989-758-774-0

445

strong competitiveness in many fields, providing a

new direction for future biomedical research.

2.1 Mechanical Properties

Due to its abundant surface functional groups,

MXene can cross-link with polymer chains to

produce a special 3D network structure, thereby

enhancing the mechanical properties of the material,

including elastic and tensile modulus. Huang et al.

(2025) prepared a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)

/Zn(CF

)

hydrogel electrolyte loaded with

MXene (MPZC), with a stretchability of up to 350%

and the ability to withstand multiple twists. It can

stretch up to 514% when broken. And after repairing

the adhesion, the load-bearing capacity gradually

recovers over time. The elongation at break of the

hydrogel was 296% 3 hours after repair, and the

compressive strength was 1032.192MPa at the

maximum compressive strain of 79.089%, showing

excellent self-healing ability. However, with the

increase in the number of self-healing times, the

impedance of the material increased slightly, and the

original structure could not be fully restored. Despite

this, MPZC hydrogel is still a strong and self-healing

electrolyte. When MXenes are used as cross-

linkers/nanofillers in hydrogels, they introduce new

functionalities to hydrogels and enhance their

inherent mechanical properties, such as surface

adhesion, stretchability, self-healing ability, etc.,

making them suitable candidates for flexible

wearable devices.

2.2 Conductivity

MXene's unique structure consists of a metal part and

a carbide core, and the carbide core has a tremendous

surface area and excellent ability to conduct, showing

the characteristics of carbon-based materials. Lotfi et

al. (2025) found that the addition of an appropriate

amount of MXene nanosheets can enhance

hydrogel’s conductivity, with the highest

conductivity reaching 975.4 ± 170.2μS/cm (0.125

mg/L concentration). However, when the MXene

concentration is further increased, the conductivity

will decrease due to the aggregation of nanosheets. In

addition, Tran et al. (2020) demonstrated the thermal

response regulation of the conductivity of mixed

MXene by PDMAEMA functionalized MXene films,

showing different conductivity changes according to

the film, and applied its conductivity change

characteristics with temperature to sensors. Therefore,

the electrical properties of hydrogels can be improved

by doping MXene, thereby promoting the accelerated

development of artificial skin, sensors, etc.

2.3 Photothermal Property

MXene can absorb photons and release heat under the

stimulation of near-infrared (NIR) light with

excellent photothermal conversion efficiency and a

wide absorption spectrum. The main causes of

MXene's photothermal properties are the localized

surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect and

efficient redox (Lin et al., 2017). Xian et al. (2025)

found the photothermal performance of ε-polylysine

(EPL)/V2C MXene composites as photothermal

transfer photocatalysts with a photothermal

conversion efficiency at 21.4%. In three cycles of

testing, the maximum temperature of the EPL/V2C

composite suspension remained stable, indicating

high photothermal stability. In addition, even at low

concentrations, the temperature tended to stabilize

and rise by about 40°C.

In another study, Cui et al. (2023) prepared

MXene-Fe3O4-PNA (MFeP) composites, which

showed outstanding photothermal conversion

performance in both submerged environments and

dry states. In addition, the temperature of the MFeP

solution can increase quickly by nearly 15°C from

25°C in 20 seconds when 1.0 W/cm2 infrared light is

used, with excellent photothermal conversion cycle

stability as well. The wide-spectrum absorption

characteristics of MXene give the hydrogel efficient

photothermal conversion ability, which can quickly

heat up under near-infrared light stimulation, and the

good photothermal stability makes the MXene

hydrogel highly recyclable, suitable for photothermal

therapy or intelligent driving materials. However, the

photothermal conversion efficiency has limited its

application in the photothermal field to a certain

extent.

2.4 Biocompatibility and Antibacterial

Properties

MXene has a negatively charged hydrophilic surface,

which also means that it has good biocompatibility.

Meanwhile, MXene nanosheets can destroy the cell

structure of bacteria because of their sharp edges and

enrichment in reactive oxygen species, which can kill

cancer cells and pathogens through redox reactions,

thus having excellent antibacterial properties (He et

al., 2025). Wang et al. (2025) dynamically

crosslinked dopamine-modified chondroitin sulfate

(ChS-DA) with SHP and MXene embedded

phenylboronic acid (PBA) gelatin methacryloyl

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(GelMA-PBA) to prepare GPC/MXene/SHP

hydrogel. As evaluated by CCK8 and fluorescence

staining experiments, GPC/MXene/SHP hydrogels

containing 200μg/mL of MXene did not significantly

alter cell viability when compared to the control

group. Live/dead fluorescence images and actin

skeleton staining further confirmed the healthy

growth and proliferation of cells in the MXene-based

hydrogel environment. Besides, in in vitro

antibacterial experiments, both GPC/MXene and

GPC/MXene/SHP showed good antibacterial

properties.

Good biocompatibility and antibacterial

properties allow MXene-based hydrogels to be used

in in vivo treatment and wound healing. Nevertheless,

the specific mechanism of cytotoxicity is not fully

understood, and in specific cases, it is necessary to

reduce its cytotoxicity by surface modification and

adjusting the size of MXene.

3 APPLICATIONS IN THE

BIOMEDICAL FIELD

3.1 Drug Delivery

Stimuli-responsive hydrogel systems show broad

application prospects in the field of drug delivery.

MXene hydrogels have in vitro cell compatibility and

in vivo biosafety and can be used for in vivo treatment.

At the same time, due to the sensitivity of responding

to multiple external triggering factors, MXene

composite hydrogels can not only achieve targeted

drug delivery, but also accurately control drug dosage.

The combination of MXene and low-melting-

point hydrogel materials is anticipated to create

intelligent hydrogels with reversible phase

transitions, which can regulate the medication

delivery by controlling the heat that MXene

releases(Dong et al., 2021; He et al., 2024). For

example, He et al. (2024) prepared MXene@GG

hydrogel by mixing gellan gum (GG), MXene

nanosheets and FeCl2 solution, which is an ingenious

drug delivery system that transfers doxorubicin

(DOX). The MXene@GG hydrogel undergoes a sol-

gel transition when exposed to 808nm NIR light,

allowing for easy tuning of drug release kinetics. At

the same time, MXene@GG hydrogels can withstand

deformation and preserve structural integrity under

large strains. MXene@GG hydrogels are

cytocompatible and retain their anticancer properties

even after the drug is released from the network after

880nm NIR irradiation.

What's more, Yang et al. (2022) synthesized an

MXene hydrogel (MNPs@MXene) cross-linked with

mixed Fe

@SiO

magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs)

for loading silver nanoparticles (AgPNs).

MNPS@MXene hydrogel can rapidly heat up under

NIR light and alternating magnetic field (AMF)

stimulation and has photothermal stability. Due to the

expansion and contraction properties of the hydrogel

and its rapid response to temperature,

MNPS@MXene hydrogel can achieve rapid drug

release, and only a small amount of AgNPs is released

in the absence of external stimulation.

Although MXene-based hydrogels can achieve

excellent performance in temporal and spatial control,

the degradation kinetics and metabolic pathways of

MXene nanosheets in vivo are not clear and the long-

term in vivo safety has not been fully clarified. Its

potential cytotoxicity, immunogenicity and

accumulation of nanoparticles in organs may cause

inflammation or chronic toxicity risks, which need to

be further systematically evaluated.

3.2 Tissue Engineering

MXene hydrogels' biocompatibility and

biodegradability make them useful for tissue

restoration. At the same time, the excellent tissue

adhesion and rheological properties of MXene

hydrogels can fill irregular injured areas, which is

conducive to cell migration and proliferation. The

conductivity of MXene hydrogels also helps promote

the regeneration of damaged tissue cells and provides

a suitable microenvironment for cell regeneration.

Yu et al. (2023) mixed phytic acid (PA), polyvinyl

pyrrolidone (PVP) and MXenes to prepare a new

hydrogel (PPM) to cure traumatic spinal cord injury

(SCI). Based on its liquid state at low frequency, PPM

hydrogel is able to conform to the substrate's rough

surface, which is conducive to the interaction

between the interfaces. PPM hydrogel has excellent

adhesion strength, which makes the hydrogel not easy

to fall off during tissue deformation. Conducive to the

transmission of bioelectric signals, a wider hysteresis

loop and a much higher conductivity are reviewed in

the experiment when compared with the control

hydrogel without MXene (PP hydrogel (PA, PVP)).

In the evaluation of spinal cord repair and

regeneration pathology, PPM hydrogel is also more

able to promote angiogenesis, myelin regeneration,

axon regeneration, and calcium-dependent signaling

protein production to achieve SCI recovery than PP

hydrogel.

Wang et al. (2024) prepared a Mo

MXene

hydrogel. In the experiment of the effect of Mo

Research Progress on MXene Composite Hydrogels in Biomedical Engineering

447

MXene hydrogel on mouse bone regeneration, the

MXene hydrogel had more new bone formation and

higher bone mineral density than groups, one with

only hydrogel and the other with none. By measuring

the content of nerve growth factor NGF, osteogenic

marker Runx2, neural factor BDNF and OCN, it was

found that the experimental group had a larger

number of any of the above cells than the hydrogel

and control groups, reflecting the important role of

MXene hydrogel in the secretion of nerve

growth factor and bone regeneration.

Similar to drug delivery, the long-term safety of

MXene in the human body applied in tissue

engineering remains to be explored. In addition,

present research is still being conducted in a lab,

mainly focusing on in vitro experiments, cell

experiments and low-level animal models, so clinical

research has not been widely carried out. There is still

a long way to go in the application of tissue

engineering.

3.3 Biosensors

MXene hydrogels have great potential in smart

wearable sensors due to their excellent self-healing

ability and flexibility. Owing to their easy

functionalization and high conductivity, MXene

hydrogels are not only important in detecting in vitro

physiological signals such as blood pressure and heart

rate, but can also be used for in vivo disease

monitoring and diagnosis.

Li et al. (2024) prepared a mixture of silk fibroin

(SF)-modified MXene and polyacrylamide (MPS)

hydrogels, which can successfully detect slight

temperature changes through electrical signals. The

sensor reacts quickly to temperature changes and has

excellent recovery ability, and can be affixed to

various regions of the body for real-time motion

tracking. Liu et al. (2024) found that MPS hydrogels

change resistance depending on the pressure. In

addition, MPS hydrogels have excellent self-healing

ability, and the resistivity is close to a stable state after

being stretched 200 times at a tensile strain of 200%.

Based on this, MPS hydrogels can be used as flexible

strain sensors to track multiple human motion states

in real time, for example, muscle twitching, throat

swallowing, and pulse beating. Ryplida et al. (2023)

made PTiM hydrogel based on TiO

/MXene

integrated polymer dots (PD-MX/TiO

). Because

cancer cells have a higher than normal H

content,

and the conductive and photothermal properties of the

hydrogel after reacting with H

change, PTiM

hydrogel sensors can be used for early cancer

diagnosis.

Although MXene hydrogels provide the

possibility of multifunctional smart sensors, in some

practical applications, they need to face complex

environmental factors such as temperature changes

and mechanical stress. One of the main concerns is

how to make hydrogels more stable and dependable

in these intricate settings.

3.4 Photothermal Therapy

Traditional PTT systems usually lack enough

interactions to effectively attach bacteria and require

indirect heat transfer pathways. This reduces the

effectiveness of photothermal ablation and may burn

normal tissues. MXene’s superior photothermal

qualities allow it to be applied to PPT for precise

targeted treatment. The MXene@polyvinyl alcohol

(PVA) gel prepared by Li et al. (2022) has excellent

photothermal effect and photothermal conversion

sensitivity. Based on the photothermal effect of

MXene and the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity

of hydrogels, MXene@PVA hydrogel can effectively

curb bacterial proliferation and greatly promote

wound healing, and may become useful in

antibacterial wound healing dressing.

Hu et al. (2024) combined Ti

MXene with

and doped it into sodium alginate (SA) and agar

(AG) to make MSG-Zn

hydrogel. Among them,

MXene enhances the swelling properties of the

hydrogel and can better absorb wound exudate. At the

same time, the introduction of Zn

enhances the

electrostatic interaction with negative-charged

bacteria, encourages the physical destruction of

MXene on bacteria and reduces the heat transfer

distance, improves the photothermal conversion

efficiency, and reduces damage to surrounding tissues.

In addition, Zn

can enhance the antibacterial

activity of hydrogels and promote skin regeneration.

This shows that MSG-Zn

hydrogels have great

potential in wound treatment.

Although MXene-based hydrogels can achieve

rapid heating, their efficiency still needs to be

improved. How to further improve their photothermal

conversion efficiency to achieve lower power density

and higher therapeutic effect remains a challenge. In

addition, the applicability of MXene-based hydrogels

in deep tissue therapy is restricted since current

research essentially ignores the investigation of the

photothermal characteristics of MXene hydrogels at

various depths.

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4 CONCLUSION

MXene-based hydrogels have shown great

application prospect in many biomedical fields

including drug delivery, tissue engineering,

biosensing and photothermal therapy in recent years.

This article systematically reviews the breakthrough

progress made by MXene-based hydrogels in

medicine in the past five years and explores the

challenges and opportunities that may be faced in

future development. However, there is still room for

improvement in the long-term biosafety and

therapeutic effectiveness of MXene-based hydrogels.

In addition, the preparation of MXene-based

hydrogels with nanoscale pores still has deficiencies

in stability and durability, which is not conducive to

the long-term use of MXene hydrogels. MXene-based

hydrogels also face some challenges in photothermal

therapy, mainly focusing on the photothermal

conversion efficiency and light penetration depth.

In the future, the research on MXene hydrogels

can focus on optimizing the surface modification and

functionalization of MXene to further improve its

photothermal, antibacterial, antioxidant, and other

properties, thereby enhancing the safety of hydrogels

and extending their service life. In addition, the

stability and durability of MXene-based hydrogels

can be improved by optimizing the preparation

process, such as introducing cross-linkers or using

dynamic covalent bonding. It is hoped that the

research results of this article can provide a solid

theoretical foundation and clear technical path for the

research and development of MXene-based

hydrogels in the next generation of smart biomedical

materials, and promote the development of this field.

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