Novel physically cross-linked hydrogels, composed of PVA and hydroxy-terminated polyamidoamine(PAMAM) dendrimer G6-OH, were prepared by cyclic freezing/thawing treatment of aqueous solutions containing PVA and G6-OH. FTIR analysis indicates that PAMAM dendrimer G6-OH was successfully introduced into PVA hydrogels. Higher contents of G6-OH in PVA/G6-OH hydrogels resulted in higher swelling ratios, and faster reswelling rates. With the increase of freezing/thawing cyclic times, the swelling ratios and reswelling rates of PVA/G6-OH hydrogels decreased, which is similar to that of physically cross-linked PVA hydrogel.
