Abstract
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a biocompatible polymer with low toxicity. It is possible to prepare physically cross-linked PVA gels having hydrogen bonds without using a cross-linking agent. The newly reported physically cross-linked PVA cast-drying (CD) on freeze-thawed (FT) hybrid gel has an excellent friction property, which is expected to be applied as a candidate material for artificial cartilage. Gamma ray sterilization for clinical applications usually causes additional chemical cross-linking and changes physical properties of gels. In this study, CD on FT hybrid gels were irradiated using gamma rays at a different dose rate and irradiance. The results showed the optimized irradiation conditions for gamma irradiated gels to retain excellent friction characteristics.
Highlights
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a high biocompatible synthetic polymer with low toxicity and excellent mechanical properties
In order to evaluate the tribological properties for artificial cartilage, frictional properties were characterized by the reciprocating friction test in this study
We investigated the changes of friction and wear characteristics of the gels irradiated using gamma rays and achieved the optimum irradiation conditions
Summary
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a high biocompatible synthetic polymer with low toxicity and excellent mechanical properties. Cross-linked PVA gels having hydrogen bonds are prepared without using a cross-linking agent via two methods. One is the repeated freeze-thawing (FT) of aqueous PVA solutions [1], while the other one is the cast-drying (CD) of them [2,3]. These two physically cross-linked PVA gels have three-dimensional amorphous network structures which are physically cross-linked by microcrystallites. While FT gel has a heterogeneous network structure with high permeability, CD gel has a uniform network structure with low permeability [4]. The possibility for application of FT gels is already reported as candidate materials for artificial cartilage, such as hip and knee prostheses [5,6,7]
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