Development of Polyvinyl Alcohol Based High Strength Biocompatible Composite Films

In the present work, the development of high strength biocompatible polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) based composite films using citric acid (CA) as a crosslinker and bacterial cellulose nano-whiskers (BCNW) as nanofiller is reported. The interfacial binding between nanoreinforcement (BCNW) and polymer (PVA) is modified by covalently binding them by citric acid. These composite films demonstrate a highest tensile strength of 132 MPa in comparison to PVA (37 MPa). The composite also shows 10-fold reduction in water swelling percentage and better thermal properties compared to PVA. Hemocompatibility and biocompatibility assays show that the developed high strength composite is nontoxic to blood and is favorable for cell growth. With the aforementioned strength and biocompatibility, the composite for development for bioimplants is proposed.