Gelatin/poly(vinyl alcohol) based hydrogel film – A potential biomaterial for wound dressing: Experimental design and optimization followed by rotatable central composite design

Abstract

The development of hydrogel films for biomedical applications is interesting due to their characteristics. Hydrogel films based on gelatin and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) are developed and characterized using a rotatable central composite design. The optimized hydrogel film is obtained by the function desirability of the Statistica® software and is also characterized by swelling kinetics, oxygen permeability, adhesiveness, TGA, DSC, and XRD. The results of the experimental design show that gelatin and PVA concentrations have a significant influence on the response variables, and the exposure doses to UV light show no significant effect. The optimized hydrogel film is elastic, presents good mechanical resistance and swelling capacity in water and exudate solution, is permeable to oxygen, and is capable of adjusting itself and maintains contact close to the skin. In this way, considering all the properties evaluated, the optimized film has characteristics suitable for biomedical applications as wound dressings.

Functional Properties of Two-Component Hydrogel Systems Based on Gelatin and Polyvinyl Alcohol—Experimental Studies Supported by Computational Analysis

“…Due to their favorable bio-application properties, research on hydrogel materials based on gelatin and PVA blends is widely reported in the literature. The articles, in particular, are concerned with using these materials for a variety of medical purposes, including tissue engineering [ 41 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ], wound dressings [ 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ], drug delivery systems [ 62 , 67 ], implants [ 68 ], and vascular grafts [ 69 ]. However, other fields of application have also been intensively explored, such as heavy metal removal [ 70 ], biodegradable food packaging [ 40 ], and enzyme immobilization [ 71 ].…”

“…It is important to emphasize that, in each case, the properties of gelatin/PVA hydrogels depend not only on the ratio of these components but also on the cross-linking method used and the final form/shape of the received material. These hydrogels can be produced with a variety of cross-linking methods based on using chemical agents (e.g., glutaraldehyde [ 41 , 59 ], sodium trimetaphosphate [ 69 ], genipin [ 60 ], and microbial transglutaminase [ 58 ]) or physical processes, such as irradiation [ 61 , 63 ] and repeated freeze-thaw cycles [ 58 , 59 , 64 , 65 , 68 ]. Furthermore, they can be obtained in the form of thin films [ 58 , 63 , 64 , 66 , 69 ], membranes [ 67 ], and three-dimensional porous constructs [ 41 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 65 , 68 , 69 ].…”

“…These hydrogels can be produced with a variety of cross-linking methods based on using chemical agents (e.g., glutaraldehyde [ 41 , 59 ], sodium trimetaphosphate [ 69 ], genipin [ 60 ], and microbial transglutaminase [ 58 ]) or physical processes, such as irradiation [ 61 , 63 ] and repeated freeze-thaw cycles [ 58 , 59 , 64 , 65 , 68 ]. Furthermore, they can be obtained in the form of thin films [ 58 , 63 , 64 , 66 , 69 ], membranes [ 67 ], and three-dimensional porous constructs [ 41 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 65 , 68 , 69 ]. Gelatin/PVA hydrogel blends can be based mainly on PVA with a small amount of gelatin [ 58 , 59 , 61 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ] as well as quite the opposite, with gelatin as the major component with the addition of a small amount of PVA [ 41 , 59 , 63 ].…”

“…Furthermore, they can be obtained in the form of thin films [ 58 , 63 , 64 , 66 , 69 ], membranes [ 67 ], and three-dimensional porous constructs [ 41 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 65 , 68 , 69 ]. Gelatin/PVA hydrogel blends can be based mainly on PVA with a small amount of gelatin [ 58 , 59 , 61 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ] as well as quite the opposite, with gelatin as the major component with the addition of a small amount of PVA [ 41 , 59 , 63 ]. These materials can be also prepared using an equal proportion of both components [ 60 , 63 ].…”

“…Gelatin/PVA hydrogel blends can be based mainly on PVA with a small amount of gelatin [ 58 , 59 , 61 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ] as well as quite the opposite, with gelatin as the major component with the addition of a small amount of PVA [ 41 , 59 , 63 ]. These materials can be also prepared using an equal proportion of both components [ 60 , 63 ]. Finally, considering all possible combinations of component ratios, cross-linking methods, and final shapes, it should be emphasized that it is very challenging to directly compare the properties of the gelatin/PVA blends obtained by different researchers.…”