Humectants effect on aqueous fluids absorption of γ-irradiated PVA hydrogel followed by freeze thawing

To evaluate the effect of humectants such as glycerol, poly(vinyl alcohol)/glycerol (P/G) hydrogels were prepared by using gamma-ray irradiation followed by freeze thawing (FT). The gel fraction ratio (G) and equilibrium swelling ratio (S) of the P/G hydrogels were investigated as functions of glycerol content and FT cycles. Interestingly, G increases while S decreases with increase in glycerol content. This result indicates that even if the glycerol is useful to improve the smoothness and moisture of the hydrogels, further consideration of conditioning the use of glycerol to improve the absorption of exudates from wounds for an advanced wound healing is needed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.