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Highly lubricious poly(vinyl alcohol)–poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels
Author(s) -
Choi Jeeyoung,
Kung Hsiang J.,
Macias Celia E.,
Muratoglu Orhun K.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.31980
Subject(s) - vinyl alcohol , lubricity , self healing hydrogels , materials science , ethylene glycol , acrylic acid , composite material , biocompatibility , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , polymer , monomer , engineering , metallurgy
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels have desirable characteristics for use as artificial cartilage, such as biocompatibility, high water content, and surface lubricity. However, PVA hydrogels are not strong enough to withstand the demanding load‐bearing environment in human joints. Thermal annealing can greatly improve compressive strength, but it also causes substantial loss in water content and lubricity. We demonstrated that incorporating anionic moieties of poly(acrylic acid) improves surface lubricity, whereas adding poly(ethylene‐glycol) prevents pore collapse during thermal annealing, yielding a tough hydrogel with high lubricity. We also found a “super‐lubricous” response from the gels when they were annealed in air versus argon gas. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 100B: 524–532, 2012.