Physico-Chemical and Biocompatibility of Poly(vinyl alcohol): Polyethylene Glycol/κ-Carragreenan Membrane by Freeze-Gelation Method

Abstract

The aim of this study was to fabricate membrane based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA):polyethylene glycol (PEG)/κ-carragreenan (KC) with different weight ratio (w/v) by freeze gelation method. The prepared membrane was characterized by using SEM, FT-IR, TGA, AFM and XRD techniques. The results revealed that FTIR and SEM showed good molecular interaction among the PVA/PEG with κ-carragreenan. The rate of thermal degradation stabilized with increased κ-carragreenan ratio and also increased the percent of crystallinity. Further water uptake also performed under phosphate buffer saline (PBS) media and results showed increased rate of swelling with increased κ- carragreenan concentration, which enhanced the stability of water uptake. Moreover cell viability performed using MTT method. The highest compatibility showed for lower concentration κ-carragreenan (PVA/PEG/KC10%). Overall results exhibited moderate swelling and degradation, good mechanical properties with strong molecular interaction between PVA/PEG with κ-carragreenan these all characters might have advantage in the field of biomedical applications.