Preparation and Characterization of Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Blends with Gelatin

Porous hydrogel blends composed of various weight ratios of hyaluronic acid (HA) and gelatin (Gel) were fabricated by a freeze-drying method. The 1-ethyl-3(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) was used as a crosslinker to improve their biostability. The effect of the component and crosslinker content on the morphology, swelling ratio (SR), and mechanical properties were investigated. The results indicated that after chemical crosslinking the hydrogel showed a smoother and denser surface with less pores and a crosssection with smaller pores than that without crosslinking. The crosssection morphologies of the HA/Gel hydrogels changed from a sheet-like appearance to a fiber-like appearance with increasing HA content. The addition of HA improved the swelling property, but reduced the compressive strength. As the crosslinker content increased, the SR decreased; however, the compressive strength of the HA/Gel hydrogels increased. All these results suggest that HA/Gel hydrogel crosslinked by EDC is a potential candidate for tissue engineering scaffolds.