Abstract
PVA hydrogels have desirable characteristics for use as soft tissue substitutes. However, PVA hydrogels are not high strength enough to withstand the demanding in load-bearing environment of human. In this paper, a high strength and low friction PVA-HA/PAA composite hydrogel is obtained by freezing-thawing and annealing method. The microstructure, thermal stability, mechanical and biotribological properties of the hydrogel are studied. Annealing PVA-HA/PAA composite hydrogel has porous structure, interaction occurred between PVA, HA and PAA. HA particles are distributed in PVA matrix and played a role of diffuse strengthening and toughening. Annealing improves the crystallinity and crosslinking of the hydrogel, annealing PVA-HA/PAA composite hydrogel has good thermal stability, strength and mechanical properties. The tensile strength of annealing PVA-HA/PAA composite hydrogel can be up to 3.71 MPa. Annealing PVA-HA/PAA composite hydrogel has favorable lubricating properties, and the friction coefficient is very low.
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