Fabrication and characterization of silk/PVA hydrogels by sonication and freezing-thawing technique

Abstract

Biomaterials like silk fibroin (SF) and polyvinyl alcohol) (PVA) have received increasing attention in biomedical applications because of their attractive properties such as hydrophobicity and biocompatibility. In this study, efficient systems consisting of interpenetrating SF/PVA hydrogels were prepared as potential candidate for wound dressing applications. A simple approach consisting of sonication and a freezing-thawing technique was adopted to fabricate the hydrogels. Different blend ratios consisting of SF (100, 75, 50, 25 and 0%) with respect to the weight of PVA were prepared. The produced hydrogels were characterized for physico-chemical investigations using various states of techniques like; FE-SEM, TGA, FTIR and tensile strength. The addition of PVA to SF was proved to be beneficial in terms of reducing the pore size and swelling ratio of hydrogels. The mechanical property of SF had been increased by addition of PVA. These results show that SF/PVA hydrogels may serve as potential candidates for wound dressing application.