Poly(vinyl-alcohol) hydrogels have already been successfully utilised as drug carrier
systems and tissue engineering scaffolds. However, lacking mechanical strength and
suturability hinders any prospects for clinical and surgical applications. The objective
of this work was to fabricate mechanically robust PVA membranes, which could also
withstand surgical manipulation and suturing. Electrospun membranes and control hydrogels
were produced with 61 kDa PVA. Using a high-speed rotating cylindrical collector,
we achieved fibre alignment (fibre diameter: 300 ± 50 nm). Subsequently, we created
multilayered samples with different orientations to achieve multidirectional reinforcement.
Finally, utilising glutaraldehyde as a cross-linker, we created insoluble fibrous-hydrogel
membranes. Mechanical studies were performed, confirming a fourfold increase in the
specific loading capacities (from 0.21 to 0.84 Nm2/g) in the case of the monolayer
samples. The multilayered membranes exhibited increased resistance from both horizontal
and vertical directions, which varies according to the specific arrangement. Finally,
the cross-linked fibrous hydrogel samples not only exhibited specific loading capacities
significantly higher than their counterpart bulk hydrogels but successfully withstood
suturing. Although cross-linking optimisation and animal experiments are required,
these membranes have great prospects as alternatives to current surgical meshes, while
the methodology could also be applied in other systems as well.
