Kinetics and thermodynamics of swelling and dissolution of PVA gels obtained by freeze-thaw technique

PVA hydrogels obtained by freeze-thaw technique find important applications in regenerative medicine and controlled drug delivery technologies. The novelty of this contribution is the establishment of the cross-dependency of kinetics and thermodynamics parameters of swelling and dissolution of PVA hydrogels with the freeze-thaw process main variables. The work also establishes cross-correlations between the freeze-thaw process conditions, the gel microstructure and the properties of obtained hydrogel/hydrosoluble PVA materials. The conditions of the freeze-thaw process were selected by following an experimental design. The time evolution of the water up-take of PVA hydrogels was measured and used as main raw data generator. A 4-D surface response of the swelling and dissolution parameters in the space of freeze-thaw process variables was obtained and analyzed in terms of the resulting hydrogel and hydrosoluble polymeric structures. The 4-D surface response in the space of freeze-thaw process variables can predict very precisely the swelling and dissolution of PVA systems and their conditions for developing fully crosslinked hydrogel networks to fully hydrosoluble polymeric bodies.