PVA hydrogel data set.xlsx

Hydrogel materials have a variety of applications, ranging from biomedical materials tissues and drug delivery systems, to their employment as immobilisation matrices in bioprocessing applications. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a synthetic, water-soluble and biocompatible polymer denoted by the general formula [CH2CH(OH)]n. Due to its physical properties when gelled, this polymer has been highlighted itself as a suitable candidate for application in the bioprocessing industry as an immobilisation matrix for microorganisms. This study aims to investigates the effects which of using various polyols as co-solvent have on the gelation of PVA-based hydrogels formed at ambient conditions, and their resulting properties. In addition to glycerol, previously known for its capabilities to induce improve gelation when used as co-solvent, polyols including erythritol (C4H10O4), xylitol (C5H12O5) and sorbitol (C6H14O6) were investigated. The key physical properties of these the resulting PVA-based hydrogels were investigated, including: transparency; tensile and compressive strengths; diffusion coefficients; rates of gelation; and method of gelation. It was determined that these hydrogels are formed through physical crosslinking rather than chemical crosslinking. The glycerol-PVA hydrogels tended to exhibit more suitable properties for application in the immobilisation of photosynthetic organisms, although the difference in properties between the glycerol-PVA, xylitol-PVA and sorbitol-PVA hydrogels were comparable and often not significantly different after rehydration. This investigation showed that through the addition of simple polyols, solid PVA-based hydrogels could be formed at ambient conditions without the requirement of toxic cytotoxic chemicals, harsh gelation conditions or unfavourable intermediate chemicals.