Swelling Studies of PVA/Gelatin Hydrogels Synthesized Using Gamma Irradiation Technique

Abstract

In the present investigation, an attempt was made to synthesise different compositions of PVA/gelatin hydrogels by gamma irradiation technique. A mixture of PVA and gelatin aqueous solutions of similar concentration at different weight ratios namely, 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, and 0/100 respectively and exposed to gamma irradiation dose of 25 kGy. Further, the prepared sample were analysed for structural and morphological characteristics using powder XRD and FESEM analysis respectively. Significant changes in the structural and morphological characteristics were observed for different PVA and gelatin concentration. The swelling studies were carried out at different pH values and the swelling data was fitted to power law expression to know the swelling mechanism of the PVA/gelatin hydrogels. The swelling characteristics of PVA/gelatin hydrogels found to increase with gelatin percentage. The PVA/gelatin hydrogels of different concentrations exhibited better swelling ability with tailored functionalities making them a better material for various biomedical applications. The overall result obtained signifies that the PVA/gelatin hydrogels could be used for various biomedical applications such as wound dressing and drug delivery systems.