William Xaveriano Waresindo, Halida Rahmi Luthfianti, Dian Ahmad Hapidin, Dhewa Edikresnha, Akfiny Hasdi Aimon, Tri Suciati, Khairurrijal Khairurrijal
Hydrogels are still an interesting topic of study because of their superior properties, such as swellability and biocompatibility. Hydrogels may be fabricated through both physical and chemical crosslinking methodologies. Among the physical crosslinking approaches, freeze-thaw (F–T) represents a distinct method wherein the procedure involves crystallizing the precursor solution followed by establishing physical crosslinking. In this paper, PVA and PVP were used as precursor solutions for the preparation of hydrogels with PVA/PVP ratios of 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40 which were labeled as HPP1, HPP2, HPP3, HPP4, and HPP5. respectively. Variations in PVP composition cause changes in the physical properties of PVA/PVP hydrogels. The addition of PVP caused a decrease in viscosity by 14.33% (from 25.74 cP decreased to 22.05 cP). The solution density and hydrogel density also decreased from 1.0641 gram/cm3 to 1.0365 gram/cm3 and from 1.213 grams/cm3 to 1.021 grams/cm3, respectively. However, the addition of PVP composition caused an increase in the degree of swelling of the hydrogel in absorbing the PBS solution. PVA/PVP hydrogel with sample code HPP2-HPP5 synthesized by the freeze-thaw method is very potential as a wound dressing material with the ability to absorb solution (wound exudate) from 259.83 to 347.89 %. © 2025 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.
Doctoral Program of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia; Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia; University Center of Excellence – Nutraceutical, Bioscience and Biotechnology Research Center, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung, 40132, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Jl. Terusan Ryacudu, Lampung, 35365, Indonesia