Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a synthetic polymer that is popular in orthopedic medicine due to its high water compatibility and other chemical resistance. Some common uses for PVA are solutions for contact lens, tissue adhesion barriers, and artificial knee cartilage (Baker et al. 2012; Spiller et al. 2011; Vegaet al. 2017). The conflict between the initial and final strength results is a lack of extensive research identifying the number of cycles necessary until the gel no longer shows strengthening resistance. We studied the extent to which the strength of a PVA gel can be increased through a freeze-thaw process. The freeze-thaw cycle is a process wherein a PVA gel is cast and frozen for a set amount of time, before allowing the gel to unthaw. After thawing, the gel is refrozen, and the cycle continues. The strength is tested based on the gels’ resistance and stress versus strain when applying a particular compressive force. To improve the dissolvability of the PVA in water, acetic acid was also added to the mixture, which increased the solubility of PVA. Experiments thus far have shown that after all freeze-thaw cycles, the gels’ mechanical strength increases. These findings indicate a relationship between a gel’s strength and dissolvability. Future studies of PVA mechanical strength would focus on other methods to increase the gel's durability after maximizing the strength through freeze-thaw cycles. Additional studies on more efficient and rapid strengthening methods are needed.
