Investigation of Salecan/poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels prepared by freeze/thaw method

• Salecan (Sal) is a new extracellular water-soluble microbial polysaccharide.
• Salecan possesses unique physicochemical characteristics and can be applied to prepare hydrogel.
• Sal/PVA blending hydrogels using a freeze/thaw process were synthesized.
• Effect of Sal/PVA ratio on the properties of the hydrogels were investigated.
• The Sal/PVA blending hydrogels exhibited favorable physicochemical and biological properties.

Salecan is a novel water-soluble extracellular-glucan produced by a new kind of salt-tolerant strain Agrobacterium sp. ZX09 and can be applied in food and medicine industries. In this work, Salecan (Sal) was incorporated into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to prepare novel Sal/PVA hybrid hydrogels by repeated freeze–thaw processing. Physicochemical and biological characteristics of the hydrogels were investigated to evaluate their potential as cell adhesion materials. By increasing the Salecan content in the hybrid hydrogels, their swelling capacity increased notably, while the compressive modulus decreased. Observed by SEM, Sal/PVA hydrogels had a homogeneous porous structure. The degradation rate of the hydrogels can be controlled by tailoring the composition ratio of Sal/PVA. Furthermore, cells could adhere well on the surface of Sal/PVA hydrogels. In conclusion, these results make Sal/PVA hydrogels attractive materials for biomedical applications.