The following study presents two methods established for characterizing the mechanical properties of polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel membranes. The first one, an instant deformation test with an automated machine allowed the determination of the elastic properties of the material, while the second permitted the determination of the viscoelastic properties with the use of the standard linear solid model while confirming the previously found elastic results. This is not trivial as clearly old fashioned tests such as the ASTM standard tension test where grips are used to hold the sample are not feasible to perform due to the fragile characteristics of this kind material that resemble delicate biological tissues. The results obtained are consistent with previous publications, where different methods where used, but an increase in the material strength was also found as the number of freezing/thawing cycles increased.

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