The effect of DNA on mechanical properties of nanofiber hydrogels

Abstract

Uniform poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofiber gels incorporating double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) were fabricated without the aid of cross- linkers employing electrospinning. Creep and tensile tests of the DNA/PVA nanofiber gels were carried out in an aqueous medium to analyze interactions between the DNA and PVA. The DNA/PVA gels had a higher elastic modulus than the PVA gel. The viscosity with increasing external load was calculated by applying the Burger model to the creep curves. We conclude that DNA is relatively weakly bound with the PVA chains, although the elastic modulus of the DNA/PVA gels was higher than that of PVA gel.