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Facile fabrication of tough and biocompatible hydrogels from polyvinyl alcohol and agarose
Author(s) -
Sun Xinxin,
Zhao Yufei,
Li Hui,
Luo Chunhui,
Luo Faliang
Publication year - 2021
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/app.50979
Subject(s) - polyvinyl alcohol , self healing hydrogels , ultimate tensile strength , agarose , materials science , aqueous solution , chemical engineering , vinyl alcohol , composite material , composite number , ammonium sulfate , agar , polymer , polymer chemistry , chromatography , chemistry , organic chemistry , biology , bacteria , engineering , metallurgy , genetics
Abstract A polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)‐agarose (agar) composite hydrogel (M‐PVA‐agar‐60) was developed by simple three cycles of freeze‐thawing, followed by successively soaking in ammonium sulfate aqueous solution to induce phase separation and dialyzing against deionized water to remove residual sulfate salts. Due to the synergy of crystalline regions, hydrogen bonding and phase separation domains, the obtained M‐PVA‐agar‐60 hydrogel exhibits excellent mechanical properties (tensile strength = 1.1 MPa, tensile strain = 324% and compressive stress = 12.5 MPa), combined with a high water content of 87.0%. Moreover, the hydrogel hardly expands after immersing in the phosphate‐buffered saline aqueous solution at 37°C for a week, and the tensile stress and toughness remain almost the same as their initial values, superior to most reported non‐swellable hydrogels. Because of the biocompatible starting materials, absence of toxic chemicals, and dialysis in advance to remove ammonium sulfate, the hydrogel also shows excellent cell compatibility, making it an ideal candidate for tissue engineering materials.