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Cellular PVA hydrogels produced by freeze/thawing
Author(s) -
Hassan Christie M.,
Peppas Nikolaos A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(20000628)76:14<2075::aid-app11>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , polymer science , materials science , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer chemistry , engineering
Cellular poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels that exhibit enhanced swelling kinetics from an initial dry state were prepared by freezing and thawing techniques in the presence of NaCl. Gels that were dried immediately after preparation demonstrated a dual‐sorption effect upon swelling. Gels that were exposed to a 10‐day washing period to remove NaCl and excess PVA chains before drying showed an increased initial rate of swelling and overall water content. Freeze/thawed, cellular PVA gels showed overall enhanced swelling with increased mechanical strength over traditional gels prepared by chemical or irradiative crosslinking techniques. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 76: 2075–2079, 2000