States of water,surface and rheological characterisation of a new biohydrogel as articular cartilage substitute

PVA based hydrogel was synthesised using, as crosslinking agent, trisodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) and its morphology was modified inducing a microporous structure to obtain potential substitutes for cartilage tissue. The hydrogel was characterised by Infrared Spectroscopy combined with Time of flight mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) that confirmed the successful occurrence of crosslinking reaction, the hyphotised crosslinking arm and its homogeneous distribution. The mechanical spectra of the fully hydrated samples confirmed covalently crosslinked systems with a rheological behaviour similar to that of tibial cartilage. Further analysis in terms of water content measurements, thermal stability and cytotoxicity confirmed the applicability of such a hydrogel as cartilage substitute. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.