Comparative Analysis of Physicochemical Properties and Biocompatibility of Biomass-Derived and Fossil-Derived Polyvinyl Alcohol Hydrogels: Material Screening for Wound Dressing Applications

As one of the most widely used synthetic polymer materials globally, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has exhibited promising application potential, especially in the field of wound dressing. Biomass-derived PVA was successfully developed to address the challenges of non-renewable resource depletion and environmental health risks associated with traditional fossil-derived PVA production. However, a knowledge gap still exists regarding the differences between biomass-derived and fossil-derived PVA in terms of their physicochemical and biocompatible properties for wound dressing. This study demonstrated that biomass-derived PVA not only retained the favorable biosafety of conventional PVA (exhibiting no cytotoxicity across multiple cell lines and no induction of inflammatory factors), but also exhibited superior physicochemical properties essential for wound dressing without adding other chemical reagents. Specifically, the light transmittance of biomass-derived PVA hydrogel (>85%) significantly exceeded that of fossil-derived counterparts, highlighting its advantage for wound dressing. Furthermore, the adhesion force of biomass-derived PVA hydrogel to porcine skin was approximately four times that of fossil-derived PVA hydrogel, and the biomass-derived hydrogel exhibited superior drug-loading capacity and more efficient sustained drug release. These findings strongly validated the benefits and applicability of biomass-derived PVA in wound dressing, especially for addressing complex wounds necessitating both physical defense and drug-based intervention.