Poly(vinyl alcohol) Cryogel Formation Using Biocompatible Ice Nucleating Agents

Abstract

Abstract To control the influence of supercooling on the preparation of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) cryogel, various biocompatible ice nucleating agents, including, two fatty alcohols, and eight different amino acids are investigated for their ice nucleating efficiency in PVA aqueous solutions. The L ‐aspartic acid is found to be the most efficient ice nucleating agent with the ability to induce freezing at ∼−5.5 °C in 8.3 wt% aqueous PVA solution as compared to ∼−20 °C without L ‐aspartic acid. The PVA cryogels are prepared with L ‐aspartic acid as the heterogeneous ice nucleating agent and investigated for their rheological properties. Finally, it is found that freezing temperature close to the sol–gel transition temperature produces cryogel with the high tack important for various biomedical applications.