New Polyvinyl alcohol-based hybrid materials for biomedical application

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a hydrophilic, biodegradable and biocompatible synthetic polymer, has been widely used in different areas of the biotechnological and biomedical field. PVA is very sensitive towards moisture and as a result the film strength is reduced, which is strongly undesirable for biomedical applications. To overcome this problem, new hybrid materials based on PVA and gamma-aminopropyltriethoxyxilane (APTEOS), 3- mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (MPTEOS) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) were prepared. Physisco-chemical surface characterization of the materials was done by measuring the water contact angle of the materials. The new materials were tested for potential use as matrices in tissue engineering application. Cytocompatibility and the cell adhesive behavior (actin cytoskeleton) of 3T3 cells as a function of surface functional groups were studied. The synthesized PVA/APTEOS materials proved efficient for use in tissue engineering applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.