The development of artificial articular cartilage – PVA‐hydrogel

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Gu, Zheng‐Qiu | Xiao, Jiu‐Mei | Zhang, Xiang‐Hong

Affiliations: Department of Corrosion Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P.R. China

Abstract: Aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) solutions were frozen at -20^{\circ}C for 6–12 h, and subsequently thawed for 1–2 h. The above mentioned process repeated for 1–3 times. After the specimen was dehydrated in vacuum, a kind of artificial articular cartilage – PVA‐hydrogel – was developed. The micromorphology of PVA‐hydrogel has been observed by means of optical microscopy and SEM. DSC and mechanical tests have been empolyed to investigate the influence of freezing, thawing, dehydrating and irradiating upon the crystallinity and the mechanical properties of PVA‐hydrogel.

Keywords: Artificial articular cartilage, PVA‐hydrogel, repeated freezing–thawing , dehydrating in vacuum, cross‐linking by irradiation

Journal: Bio-Medical Materials and Engineering, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 75-81, 1998