Preparation and Characterization of Polyvinyl Alcohol‐Chitosan/Cerium Hydrogel with Significant Antibacterial Activity

Abstract Traditional wound dressings have some major deficiencies, including poor antibacterial ability, low exudate absorption rate and dry environment. These defects can be addressed by the prepared hydrogels in this study, which can provide a moist and cool environment for wound healing. Polyvinyl alcohol‐chitosan/cerium (PVA‐Cs/Ce) composite hydrogels are prepared by a freeze‐thaw method and characterized by x‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, the effects of chitosan/cerium (Cs/Ce) complexes with different contents on properties, including mechanical properties, water vapor permeability, swelling ratio, and thermal stability are investigated. SEM images indicate that the composite hydrogels have a good three‐dimensional pore structure. Compared with the pure PVA hydrogel, the composite hydrogels show better swelling properties and more suitable water vapor transmission rate (2504 g m ‐2 ·day) by adding Cs/Ce complexes. And the elongation at break of the hydrogel with a ratio of 5:3 (PVA: Cs/Ce) is the highest value of 567%. In the bacteriostatic circle experiment, PVA‐Cs/Ce composite hydrogels exhibit a pronounced inhibitory effect against two bacteria ( Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli ). These results suggest that these composite hydrogels have great potential as wound dressings.