Polymeric hydrogels are widely explored materials for biomedical applications. However, they have inherent limitations like poor resistance to stimuli and low mechanical strength. This drawback of hydrogels gave rise to ‘‘smart self-healing hydrogels’’ which autonomously repair themselves when ruptured or traumatized. It is superior in terms of durability and stability due to its capacity to reform its shape, injectability, and stretchability thereby regaining back the original mechanical property. This review focuses on various self-healing mechanisms (covalent and non-covalent interactions) of these hydrogels, methods used to evaluate their self-healing properties, and their applications in wound healing, drug delivery, cell encapsulation, and tissue engineering systems. Furthermore, composite materials are used to enhance the hydrogel’s mechanical properties. Hence, findings of research with various composite materials are briefly discussed in order to emphasize the healing capacity of such hydrogels. Additionally, various methods to evaluate the self-healing properties of hydrogels and their recent advancements towards 3D bioprinting are also reviewed. The review is concluded by proposing several pertinent challenges encountered at present as well as some prominent future perspectives.

Type I collagen is a biomaterial of preferred choice due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ability to support cell adhesion and proliferation. However, the use of collagen hydrogels in tissue engineering (TE) is limited due to poor mechanical properties and low stability. This study introduces a novel dual‐modification strategy to enhance collagen properties by combining UVA‐mediated riboflavin/sodium persulfate (RF/SPS) photocrosslinking with the incorporation of unsonicated silk fibroin (SF), an approach not previously reported. Collagen hydrogels were fabricated in four variations: uncrosslinked collagen (UXL‐C), UVA‐mediated RF/SPS photocrosslinked collagen (XL‐C), SF incorporated UVA‐RF/SPS photocrosslinked collagen using two different collagen:SF ratios (XL‐CS 1:1 w/w) and (XL‐CS 1:2 w/w). Mechanical testing and stability results showed that combining UVA‐RF/SPS photocrosslinking and SF incorporation significantly enhanced ( p < 0.05) the compressive modulus and increased mass‐retention of collagen hydrogels suggesting that the addition of unsonicated SF improves the mechanical properties and stability of photochemically crosslinked collagen hydrogels. All hydrogel compositions exhibit shear‐thinning behavior demonstrating applicability for extrusion‐based 3D printing via Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels (FRESH)‐based methodology. 3D printed SF‐incorporated collagen constructs showed improved shape fidelity compared to constructs printed with collagen‐only inks. In vitro cell culture studies revealed that all hydrogel formulations supported cell viability and metabolic activity over 7 days of culture. Together, these findings demonstrate that combining UVA‐mediated RF/SPS photocrosslinking and unsonicated SF incorporation is a viable strategy to improve the mechanical properties, stability, and printability of collagen hydrogels for biomedical and TE applications.