Premium
Evaluation of water uptake and mechanical properties of biomedical polymers
Author(s) -
Vidović Elvira,
Klee Doris,
Höcker Hartwig
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.39624
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , polymer , materials science , vinyl alcohol , polyester , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , lactide , elastic modulus , modulus , composite material , polymer science , copolymer , engineering
Poly(vinyl alcohol) grafted with poly( d,l ‐lactide) or poly( d,l ‐lactide‐ co ‐glycolide) oligomers, were synthesized in our laboratory and investigated with respect to their potential for tissue engineering applications. In order to understand their structure–properties relationships the effect of length and composition as well as number of polyester grafts on PVA backbone chain on water uptake capability and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity balance and on mechanical properties of hydrogels was evaluated. The E moduli of hydrogels display values between 0.01 and 100 MPa. The results indicate the route for the development of polymers with a very broad range of properties similar to those of natural cartilage tissue. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 3682–3688, 2013