Swelling and Degradation

The swelling and degradation assay measures how biomaterial scaffolds absorb water (swelling) and lose mass over time due to degradation. Developed by Wichterle and Lim in 1960 for hydrogels, the assay is fundamental for characterizing hydrogels, synthetic polymers, and composite scaffolds intended for tissue engineering. The assay provides quantitative data on swelling kinetics (equilibrium water content, swelling ratio), degradation kinetics (mass loss rate, half-life), and mechanisms of degradation (chain scission, enzymatic breakdown).