Development and characterization of Poly (vinyl alcohol) based hydrogels for potential use as an articular cartilage replacement

作者：Sebastian Maiolo Adolfo; Nicolas Amado Matias; Soledad Gonzalez Jimena; Alejandra Alvarez Vera

来源：Materials Science & Engineering C-Materials for Biological Applications, 2012, 32(6): 1490-1495.

DOI：10.1016/j.msec.2012.04.030

• Poly (vinyl alcohol)
• Hydroxyapatite
• Hydrogel
• Cartilage replacement

Hydroxyapatite (HA) reinforced Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel composites has been proposed as a promising biomaterial to replace diseased or damaged articular cartilage. Here, PVA/in-situ produced HA hydrogels with 0,3 and 7.5 wt.% of HA content were obtained by freezing/thawing technique. Thermal, structural and mechanical characterizations were carried out. SEM micrographs revealed that HA was homogeneously distributed in PVA until 3 wt.% whereas partial agglomeration was observed for higher contents (7.5 wt.%). No significant changes were observed in the glass transition temperature (the average value was near to 78 degrees C +/- 3 degrees C), the melting point and structural water content whereas the gel fraction slightly increased (from 0.72 to 0.78) with the increase the content of HA. The absorbed water decreased (from 85.7% to 80.5%) as a function of HA content The stress-strain curves were really different in hydrated and non-hydrated conditions, changing from non-linear, in presence of water, to linear behavior in a dried state, being in the first case consistent with the articular cartilage. The lowest friction coefficient was obtained for samples with 3 wt % HA (0.067 +/- 0.049), which is, together with a high resistance (721 +/- 25 kPa), an important property for materials that will be used as articular replacement. The results indicate that this hydrogel could be used, after other studies, as articular cartilage replacement.

• 出版日期2012-8-1