4. Conclusion
The 40% Na-AMPS synthetic hydrogels from this work showed a good balance of properties as would be
required for a wound dressing such as good coherency, transparency and flexibility. High water absorption is
essential for a hydrogel to be able to absorb more wound exudate. At the same time, water absorption and water
vapour transmission need to be balanced to keep moist environment of the wound which can support the new cell
growth. The hydrogel sheets showed good skin adhesion to healthy skin while being easy to remove from a wound
surface when hydrated also exhibited high oxygen permeability values (Dk) which are advantageous for their use as
wound dressings from the point of view of allowing oxygen exchange to and from the wound surface. In addition, it
was shown that the UV radiation is a powerful tool for producing hydrogels, it is considered that these
photopolymerised Na-AMPS-based hydrogels show considerable potential for biomedical application use as wound
dressings.