Preparation and characterization of hydrogels with potential for use as biomaterials

Hydrogels have been extensively explored for biomedical applications due to their ability to absorb high water content in its structure, which gives excellent biocompatibility. This work aims at obtaining biocompatible hydrogels with potential for use in increasing the mechanical strength of bone substitutes, or controlled drug release. Poly (N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) hydrogels were prepared by free radical polymerization with and without the addition of acrylic acid. Azobisisobutyronitrile and ammonium persulfate were used as initiator and N,N-methylenebisacrylamide was used as the crosslinking agent. The characterization of the hydrogels was performed by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, infrared spectroscopy and swelling properties. The results obtained demonstrate different degrees of crosslinking and swelling of up to 490 + or - 30%. The different properties of the hydrogels suggest different applications.