Regulated Physical Properties in the Blends of Poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) and Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)

摘要

Poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) (Figure 1) is an unsaturated linear polyester that can be cross-linked through its carbon-carbon double bonds. It can be degraded by simple hydrolysis of the ester bonds and the degradation time depends on polymer characteristics such as molecular weight, type of cross-linker, and cross-linking density. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) (Figure 1), an FDA-approved biodegradable polymer with excellent biocompatibility and flexibility, can be degraded by hydrolysis of its ester linkages in physiological conditions and has therefore received extensive attention in various biomedical applications. In this study, amorphous PPF with a high- molecular-weight semi-crystalline PCL have been blended and the physical properties in both uncrosslinked and photocrosslinked forms of these blends have been examined and compared with each other. Inter-penetrating networks (IPNs) have been formed by combining the chemically crosslinked PPF network and physical associations of PCL crystalline domains. We have investigated that how chemical crosslinks and physical associations determine the thermal, mechanical, surface hydrophilicity, and rheological behaviors of IPNs in order to produce a series of novel polymeric biomaterials with efficiently controlled properties for diverse biomedical applications. Furthermore, crystallites-induced surface morphology has been studied using this series of PPF/PCL blends.