Jimena S. Gonzalez; Alejandra Ponce; Vera A. Alvarez
Abstract
During the last decade researchers have been working to find effective wound dressing materials. The materials have to be designed to hold moisture in the surface of the wound, providing the ideal environment for cleaning the wound, absorbing the exudates, eliminating the odour and promoting the healing ...
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During the last decade researchers have been working to find effective wound dressing materials. The materials have to be designed to hold moisture in the surface of the wound, providing the ideal environment for cleaning the wound, absorbing the exudates, eliminating the odour and promoting the healing process. In this scenario, hydrogels emerge as excellent options for that. However, due to poor mechanical and antimicrobial properties of many conventional hydrogels, composite hydrogels are now designed in order to improve mechanical stiffness and durability. For this purpose, nanocomposite based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) and different concentration of bentonite (0-7 wt.%) were obtained by the freezing-thawing technique and characterized by means of morphological, physical, thermal, mechanical, barrier and antimicrobial properties. Herein it was developed a non-expensive, eco-friendly and a facile method to obtain nanocomposite hydrogels based on PVOH with reasonable mechanical properties (Young Modulus of 0.5-0.8 MPa), good microbial barrier properties, adequate water vapour transmission rates and excellent swelling behaviour (195-336%). Moreover, it was found that the porous sizes of the samples can be controlled by the addition of the clay. All obtained results indicate that the PVOH/ 3% bentonite hydrogels show potential to be used as wound healing.
