Abstract:
The poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels were prepared by Gamma- irradiation technique that can produce the cross-linking network of PVA molecules. This work wanted to improve the water absorption and moisture retention of the PVA hydrogels by adding Carboxymethyl chitosan (CM-chitosan) into PVA hydrogels. CM-chitosan was synthesized by using monochloroacetic acid. The optimum condition used 10 % w/v of PVA and 15 % (w/w of PVA) of CM-chitosan, the blended solution was irradiated at 35 kGy. It was found that, the water absorption and water losing rate of the obtained hydrogels were about 311.54 % and -4.62x10-4 g/min respectively. To enhance the antibacterial activity of the blended hydrogels, N- trimethyl chitosan chloride (TMC) was added into the blended hydrogels. TMC was synthesized by using methyl iodide. The antibacterial activity was investigated by using colony count method. The result showed that an antibacterial activity of the blended hydrogels was increased with TMC content. The cytotoxicity of the antibacterial hydrogels was assessed by using an indirect cytotoxicity test against mouse fibroblast cells (L929) indicated that both the PVA hydrogels and the blended hydrogels released no substances at levels that were harmful to these cells. Therefore, the fabricated hydrogels can be used as a wound dressing for medical application.
