Structure and Properties of Biocompatible Poly (glycerol adipate) Elastomers Modified with Ethylene Glycol

LUCILA NAVARRO; NATALIA CEAGLIO; IGNACIO RINTOUL

POLYMER JOURNAL

SOC POLYMER SCIENCE JAPAN

Año: 2017

0032-3896

Polyesters poly (glycerol adipate)s or PGAs were prepared by catalyst-free poly-condensation reaction of different proportions of adipic acid and glycerol. Additionally, another set of PGAs were developed by adding ethylene glycol to the reaction mixture, obtaining three PGA-co-ethylene glycols depending on ethylene glycol and glycerol ratio. All pre-polymers were chemical cross-linked into elastomeric films according to specific experimental conditions. Full characterization of elastomers showed easy tunability according to monomer ratio and curing conditions. Mechanical properties presented a variety of Young´s Modulus ranging from 0.07 to 8.33 MPa. Within this range, a number of Young´s Modulus values of soft tissues can be included. Moreover, cytotoxicity analysis performed on embryonic mouse fibroblasts (NIH/3T3) showed no cytotoxicity and good adherence over all PGA and PGA-co-ethylene glycol elastomers. In addition, fibroblasts underwent a differentiation process into neuron-like type of cells proving to have an excellent potential for soft tissue engineering.