Preparation and properties of polyvinyl alcohol/tannic acid composite film for topical treatment application

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an effective potential wound dressing material based on a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and tannic acid (TA) composite film. To prepare the PVA/TA films, PVA and TA blended aqueous solutions were cast into film form by spreading the solutions and drying them. Then the films were heat treated at 155 oC for 3 min to promote esterification between the PVA and TA. After removing un-crosslinked moieties from the films by rinsing and drying, the films were investigated by swelling behavior, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD and TGA. And, the antibacterial and antioxidant abilities of the films were also examined in this study. Through this investigation it was discovered that TA effectively acts as a functional antibacterial and antioxidant agent as well as crosslinker in the PVA/TA system. Thus, the PVA/TA composite films prepared by the casting and heat treatment method proposed in this study are expected to be used for topical medication, such as wound dressing material.