In summary, the PVA–HES-ampicillin blend hydrogel membranes
have been developed using freezing–thawing technique
as a physical crosslinking method. The PVA–HES hydrogels
have been characterized on many levels, examined for numerous
purposes and incredible potential applications in medicine
and pharmacy. FTIR results indicate that absorption peak is
related to hydrogen bonding between –OH groups of HES
and PVA. Addition of HES in the physically crosslinked
PVA network significantly influenced its molecular structure,
thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties. SEM results
showed that morphology structures of PVA hydrogels
were strongly dependent on HES contents, where pore size
and pore area distribution obviously related to the introduction
of high HES contents. Furthermore, physically crosslinked
PVA–HES hydrogel gave more swellable, flexible,
elastic, and higher protein adsorbent compared to that with
only PVA. Additionally, HES incorporation to PVA hydrogel
improved the thermal stability. The pure PVA xerogels exhibited
lower Tg values in comparison to virgin PVA or blended
PVA with HES up to certain content. Moreover, the overall
thermal stability was notably improved by introduction of
HES as blend materials. However, the crystallization degree
displayed a significant reduction with HES incorporation.
Both hydrolytic degradation of PVA–HES hydrogel membranes
and release profile of loaded-ampicillin, have apparently
increased with increasing HES contents in hydrogels.
Finally, it was concluded from our results that the physicochemical,
morphological, mechanical, thermal properties, degradation,
and release profile study showed that the addition of
HES–PVA hydrogels is expected to improve utility as hydrogel
membrane for biomedical applications, specifically for wound
dressing application mildly.