A crosslinked PVA/GO hydrogel for wound dressing with pH-controlled drug release capabilities

High drug loading efficiency and strong controlled release ability is favorable to solving the problem of short drug release cycle and high replacement rate of wound dressings. PVA/GO hydrogels were developed for controlled release wound dressings with high drug loading efficiency for advanced wound care. The PVA/GO hydrogels were prepared by chemical crosslinking using graphene oxide (GO) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as raw materials, and formaldehyde (CH₂O) as the crosslinker. The effects of GO content on the physicochemical structure and properties of the hydrogels were investigated. Additionally, the loading and controlled release of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) were investigated and a pH-responsive, a crosslinked PVA/GO-TCH hydrogel was developed by incorporating TCH drugs. The research revealed that the loading efficiency and release percentage of TCH could be regulated by the GO content. With the increase of GO content, the loading efficiency of drug was increased and release percentage was decreased. The porosity of the hydrogel (PVA/GO10-TCH) reached 96.26 %, achieving a high loading efficiency of 86.3 %. Additionally, the hydrogels exhibited a good controlled release performance and pH responsiveness. Under neutral conditions, 52 % of the drug was released within 120 h, while an alkaline condition could promote drug release, resulting in an 86 % release percentage within 120 h. In contrast, under acidic conditions, drug release was clearly inhibited. And when the GO content was 5.5 %, the swelling rate of hydrogel was 93.6 %, the water vapor transmission rate was 1356.75 g/m2/day, the porosity was 91.44 %, the conductivity was 0.569 ms/cm, the hemolysis rate of in vitro biocompatibility test was 0.219 %, and the tensile strength was 0.48 MPa, showing the best performance as a wound dressing These properties indicate the significant potential of the hydrogels for application as a wound dressing. [Display omitted] •PVA/GO hydrogels demonstrate a high efficacy in drug loading and effectively controlled release for TCH drug.•The controlled release of PVA/GO-TCH hydrogels is pH-responsive.•The drug loading and release of PVA/GO-TCH hydrogels can be modulated by the graphene oxide content.