Shape Recovery with Concomitant Mechanical Strengthening of Amphiphilic Shape Memory Polymers in Warm Water
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Orthopedics and Physical RehabilitationDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2017-02-08Keywords
amphiphilic biodegradable polymershydration-induced stiffening effect
minimal invasive surgery
shape memory
weight-bearing implantation
Biomaterials
Biomechanics and Biotransport
Biomedical and Dental Materials
Biotechnology
Investigative Techniques
Macromolecular Substances
Materials Chemistry
Medical Biotechnology
Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Engineering
Organic Chemicals
Orthopedics
Other Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment
Polymer Chemistry
Surgical Procedures, Operative
Tissues
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Maintaining adequate or enhancing mechanical properties of shape memory polymers (SMPs) after shape recovery in an aqueous environment are greatly desired for biomedical applications of SMPs as self-fitting tissue scaffolds or minimally invasive surgical implants. Here we report stable temporary shape fixing and facile shape recovery of biodegradable triblock amphiphilic SMPs containing a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) center block and flanking poly(lactic acid) or poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) blocks in warm water, accompanied by concomitant enhanced mechanical strengths. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses revealed that the unique stiffening of the amphiphilic SMPs upon hydration was due to hydration-driven microphase separation and PEG crystallization. We further demonstrated that the chemical composition of degradable blocks in these SMPs could be tailored to affect the persistence of hydration-induced stiffening upon subsequent dehydration. These properties combined open new horizons for these amphiphilic SMPs for smart weight-bearing in vivo applications (e.g., as self-fitting intervertebral discs). This study also provides a new material design strategy to strengthen polymers in aqueous environment in general.Source
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017 Feb 8;9(5):4450-4456.10.1021/acsami.6b14167. Epub 2017 Jan 26. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1021/acsami.6b14167Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/29037PubMed ID
28125208Related Resources
Rights
This is an open access article published under an ACS AuthorChoice License, which permits copying and redistribution of the article or any adaptations for non-commercial purposes.ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1021/acsami.6b14167