Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) – A Versatile Polymer for Biomedical and Beyond Medical Applications

Abstract

The high versatility of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) can be explained by its diverse properties including its solubility in water and in a broad range of liquid media, high chemical and thermal resistance, and unique wetting, binding, and film-forming properties. Thanks to biocompatibility, absence of toxicity and high capacity to form interpolymer complexes, PVP is widely used for designing materials for different applications, such as biomaterials for medical and nonmedical uses. This review summarizes a vast diversity of applicative examples showing the tremendous opportunities for future research and developments of PVP based biomaterials.