title: A combined effect of freeze--thaw cycles and polymer concentration on the structure and mechanical properties of transparent PVA gels.
abstract: Transparent poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel films, derived from aqueous solutions of varying concentration, were synthesized by the cyclic freeze-thaw method (0°-37 °C). This study demonstrates a variation in the transparency, degree of crystallinity, wettability, swelling and mechanical properties of the hydrogels as a function of the solution concentration and the number of freeze-thaw cycles for a given average molecular weight (95,000 Da). The study manifests a strong control of the number of freeze-thaw cycles on the structure-property correlations of the synthesized transparent PVA hydrogels, revealing the possibility of obtaining a window of structural and process parameters for the physically cross-linked hydrogels, making them suitable for cell-gel interactions.
authors.affiliation: CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India. siddhi.biotech@gmail.com
authors.forename: Siddhi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Sudipta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goswami
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sinha
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D019245:Compressive Strength; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005615:Freezing; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D006244:Hardness; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008422:Materials Testing; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry*; D012031:Refractometry
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005782:Gels; D011108:Polymers; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol