Effect of Morphology and Chemical Modification on Water Degradation Behavior of Polyvinyl Alcohol - Gelatin Blend

Polyvinyl Alcohol - Gelatin (PVAG) nanofibers were successfully synthesized using the electrospinning method. After synthesis, the degradation study of electrospun PVAG nanofibers was done using Quartz Crystal Microbalance submerged in distilled water at ambient conditions. Additional samples were prepared: PVAG film, and cross-linked PVAG nanofibers using 37% formaldehyde vapor, to analyze the effects of the morphology and chemical modification on the degradation property of PVAG blend. Results revealed significant differences in the degradation properties of different samples. PVAG film exhibited initial mass loss at the beginning but afterwards began to uptake water from the environment, achieving steady state value. PVAG nanofibers' behavior was in a continuous mass loss behavior in contrast to the film morphology, probably due to its large surface area exposed to the aqueous environment that readily solubilized PVA and gelatin components of the nanofibers. Analysis on the PVAG cross-linked nanofibers showed degradation profile comparable to a damped sinusoid function, achieving a pseudo steady-state profile after considerable time. Evidence from QCM studies show that morphology and chemical modification has an effect on the degradation property of PVAG, and further tuning of these effects could be utilized for functional use in tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, and other chemical and biomedical use.