Physically Crosslinked Hydrogels Based on Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) and Fish Gelatin for Wound Dressing Application: Fabrication and Characterization

), gels changed from white to slight yellow and the swelling ratio increased from 54% to 83% (within 8 h). The presence of FG decreased the water content of gels which ranged from 86% to 89% and also decreased water evaporation rate. All gels presented the swelling index within 0.5-1.0, indicating a non-Fickian diffusion mechanism. The drug sustained dissolution behavior of pure PVA and composite hydrogel showed the same trend. Besides, the presence of the obvious bacteriostatic zones means that drug-loaded composite hydrogels have an effective antibacterial property. These results demonstrated that PVA/FG-based interpenetrating hydrogel is an appropriate biomaterial for drug-carrying wound dressing application.