Porous materials containing biodegradable polymers: High internal phase emulsion synthesis

PMSE 96

Yulia Lumelsky1, Janet Zoldan2, Shulamit Levenberg2, and Michael S. Silverstein, michaels@tx.technion.ac.il1. (1) Department of Materials Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel, (2) Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
PolyHIPE are crosslinked highly porous polymers synthesized within high internal phase emulsions (HIPE). PolyHIPE have unusual fullyinterconnected, openpore structures, low bulk densities, high permeabilities, large surface areas, and the ability to rapidly absorb large quantities of liquid through capillary action. The objectives of this research were to synthesize and characterize novel polyHIPE that contain biodegradable polymers. The synthesis routes included forming semiinterpenetrating polymer networks (sIPN) containing biodegradable polymers and synthesizing copolymers with biodegradable macromonomers. For this purpose a vinyl terminated polycaprolactone (PCL) oligomer was synthesized from a PCL diol. The molecular structures, porous morphologies, and mechanical properties were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, highresolution scanning electron microscopy, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, and uniaxial compression. The porous structure, densities, and moduli of the polyHIPE were strongly dependent on the composition and on the synthesis route. Mouse skeletal muscle cells successfully attached to an s-IPN polyHIPE surface and spontaneous differentiation was observed.