Abstract

This study presents the preparation and characterization of physically crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogels via the freeze-thawing method, incorporating olive oil and its derivatives, specifically epoxides and diols. The derivatives were synthesized from olive oil using a mixture of formic acid and hydrogen peroxide as oxidants and were characterized through 1H-NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. Hydrogels were formulated by freezing 10 wt% PVA solutions containing varying concentrations (1 or 5 wt%) of olive oil or its derivatives for 24 h, followed by thawing at room temperature overnight. The surface morphology, mechanical strength, thermal stability, and antibacterial properties of the resulting PVA hydrogels were systematically evaluated, and the influence of the chemical structure of the olive oil derivative on the PVA hydrogel mechanical properties was discussed and supported by molecular dynamics simulations.