The high versatility of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) can be explained by its diverse properties including its solubility in water and in a broad range of liquid media, high chemical and thermal resistance, and unique wetting, binding, and film-forming properties. Thanks to biocompatibility, absence of toxicity and high capacity to form interpolymer complexes, PVP is widely used for designing materials for different applications, such as biomaterials for medical and nonmedical uses. This review summarizes a vast diversity of applicative examples showing the tremendous opportunities for future research and developments of PVP based biomaterials.

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Rheological behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) mixtures in aqueous solutions and hydrogel state was investigated. The complex dependence of the viscosity on PVA/PVP mixture composition could be attributed to cumulative effects of electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding or association phenomena. Physical hydrogels were prepared by freezing/thawing method and their viscoelastic properties were followed as a function of number of cryogenic cycles and aging time at 37°C. From swelling experiments, it was observed that the diffusion of water molecules into the hydrogel pores is Fickian (for low number of cryogenic cycles) and it becomes pseudo-Fickian as the sample is submitted to more than 10 freezing/thawing cycles. PVA/PVP hydrogels obtained by physical interactions present a high degree of tailorability and they are suitable candidates for biomedical applications.

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