Some aspects of this disclosure relate to a method for forming a biomaterial in situ comprising: combining a solution of a crosslinker in a water soluble organic solvent with a precursor to covalently crosslink the precursor to form a crosslinked gel, with the crosslinker comprising a plurality of first functional groups and the precursor comprising a plurality of second functional groups, with the first functional groups chemically reacting with the second functional groups in situ to form covalent bonds and thereby form the crosslinked gel.