POLY (VINYL ALCOHOL) HYDROGELS FOR WOUND DRESSING

VERA ALVAREZ; A. PONCE; JIMENA GONZÁLEZ

Congreso; 2º Taller de Órganos Artificiales, Biomateriales e Ingeniería de Tejidos; 2011

Wound dressing is an artificial skin that can meet the requirements such as higher vapor or gas permeation and protection of wound from infection and dehydration. Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel is one of the well-known polymer gel that due to its good biocompatibility, hydrophilicity and capability of swell in water or biological fluids has been used in several biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. The main objective of this work was synthesized, in order to obtain wound dressing with better properties, composite-hydrogels which were prepared using combination of: PVA/bentonite (3 and 7.5wt.%), PVA/cellulose (3 and 7.5wt.%), PVA/Ag nanoparticles, PVA/rosemary extract and PVA /clove extract, via the freezing/thawing method. For this purpose, chemical, thermal, mechanical, swelling analyses and antimicrobial properties studies (using as indicator Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes) were carried out. The results showed that PVA/bentonite and PVA/cellulose had the higher antimicrobial respond. In adittion, they exhibit the mechanical and swelling characteristics suitable for use as wound dressing. Their function as barriers against microbe penetration showed that they could protect the wound from further infection; hence it could accelerate the healing process of wound.