{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,18]],"date-time":"2026-01-18T09:05:24Z","timestamp":1768727124045,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,15]],"date-time":"2022-09-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1663200000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"FutureLab organization"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hydrogels belong to the group of polymers that are more and more often considered as innovative dressing materials. It is important to develop materials showing the most advantageous properties from the application viewpoint wherein in the case of hydrogels, the type and the amount of the crosslinking agent strongly affect their properties. In this work, PVP-based hydrogels containing Aloe vera juice and L-ascorbic acid were obtained via UV-induced polymerization. Next, their surface morphology (via both optical, digital and scanning electron microscope), sorption capacity, tensile strength, and elongation were characterized. Their structure was analyzed via FT-IR spectroscopy wherein their impact on the simulated body liquids was verified via regular pH and temperature measurements of these liquids during hydrogels\u2019 incubation. It was demonstrated that as the amount of the crosslinker increased, the polymer structure was more wrinkled. Next, hydrogels showed relatively smooth and only slightly rough surface, which was probably due to the fact that the modifiers filled also the outer pores of the materials. Hydrogels demonstrated buffering properties in all incubation media, wherein during the incubation the release of Aloe vera juice probably took place as evidenced by the decrease in the pH of the incubation media and the disappearance of the absorption band deriving from the polysaccharides included in the composition of this additive. Next, it was proved that as the amount of the crosslinker increased, hydrogels\u2019 crosslinking density increased and thus their swelling ratio decreased. Hydrogels obtained using a crosslinking agent with higher average molecular weight showed higher swelling ability than the materials synthesized using crosslinker with lower average molecular weight. Moreover, as the amount of the crosslinking agent increased, the tensile strength of hydrogels as well as their percentage elongation also increased.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma15186404","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,16]],"date-time":"2022-09-16T01:35:10Z","timestamp":1663292110000},"page":"6404","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Physicochemical Evaluation of L-Ascorbic Acid and Aloe vera-Containing Polymer Materials Designed as Dressings for Diabetic Foot Ulcers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Magdalena","family":"K\u0119dzierska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemotherapy, Medical University of Lodz, Copernicus Memorial Hospital of Lodz, 93-513 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mateusz","family":"Jamro\u017cy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Materials Engineering and Physics, Cracow University of Technology, 37 Jana Paw\u0142a II Av., 31-864 Krakow, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sonia","family":"Kud\u0142acik-Kramarczyk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Materials Engineering and Physics, Cracow University of Technology, 37 Jana Paw\u0142a II Av., 31-864 Krakow, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4790-5347","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Drabczyk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Materials Engineering and Physics, Cracow University of Technology, 37 Jana Paw\u0142a II Av., 31-864 Krakow, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Magdalena","family":"Ba\u0144kosz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Materials Engineering and Physics, Cracow University of Technology, 37 Jana Paw\u0142a II Av., 31-864 Krakow, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Piotr","family":"Potemski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemotherapy, Medical University of Lodz, Copernicus Memorial Hospital of Lodz, 93-513 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2761-6185","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bo\u017cena","family":"Tyliszczak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Materials Engineering and Physics, Cracow University of Technology, 37 Jana Paw\u0142a II Av., 31-864 Krakow, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102543","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dsx.2022.102543","article-title":"Diabetic foot workshop: A strategy for improving the knowledge of diabetic foot care providers","volume":"16","author":"Aalaa","year":"2022","journal-title":"Diabetes Metab. 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