Synthesis and characterization of novel tricontinous membranes consisting of hydrophilic/lipophilic/oxyphilic domains

摘要

Since several years we have been engaged in the exploration of amphiphilic membranes for biomaterial applications. In the course of these investigations recently we have designed and assembled membranes that exhibit good mechanical properties and are not only permeable to water and hydrocarbons, but also to oxygen. These membrane contain three covalently combined building blocks, i.e., a hydrophilic, a lipophilic and an oxyphilic polymer segment, that give rise to a tricontinuous domain microstructure. Specifically, the hydrophilic domains of these membranes are poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) segments, the lipophilic domains are blocks of polyisobutylene (PIB), and the oxyphilic domains, which at the same time function as crosslinking sites, are pentamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D_5H). We have developed an efficient simple method for the synthesis of these tricomponent membranes and have characterized them in regard to overall composition, microstructure and permeability. This presentation concerns our synthetic strategy and provides insight into the characteristics of these unique materials.