Biodegradable polyurethanes: Comparative study of electrospun scaffolds and films

Abstract

The development of elastomeric, bioresorbable, and biocompatible segmented polyurethanes (SPUs) for use in tissue‐engineering applications has attracted considerable interest in recent years. In this work, nonporous films and microfiber/nanofiber scaffolds, which were prepared from two different poly(ϵ‐caprolactone)‐based SPUs previously synthesized from 1,6‐hexamethylene diisocyanate and novel chain extenders containing urea groups or an aromatic amino acid derivative, were studied. Their thermal properties were influenced by both the different chemical structures of the hard segments and the processing conditions. The mechanical properties of the scaffolds (the elastic modulus, ultimate strain, and tensile stress) were adequate for engineered soft‐tissue constructs (e.g., myocardial tissue). The film samples displayed a low swelling degree (<2 wt %) in a phosphate‐buffered solution at 37°C. The introduction of the amino acid derivative chain extender with hydrolyzable ester bonds contributed to greater degradation. The fibrous scaffolds exhibited higher hydrolytic stability than the films after short assay times because of their more crystalline structures and higher degrees of association by hydrogen bonding, but they also experienced higher mass losses under accelerated conditions (70°C). This suggested that the degradation rate was not constant but depended on the degradation time and the processing technique. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011

Biomimetic Hierarchically Arranged Nanofibrous Structures Resembling the Architecture and the Passive Mechanical Properties of Skeletal Muscles: A Step Forward Toward Artificial Muscle

“…Focusing on electrospun PU nanofibers, an high deformability has been reported (failure strain = 160-400%; Pedicini and Farris, 2003;Yao et al, 2008;Erdem et al, 2015;Chernonosova et al, 2018)along with high elasticity (elastic modulus = 1.5-4 MPa; Yao et al, 2008). Few works have dealt with proposing electrospun PU scaffolds for muscle reconstruction, often limiting themselves to two-dimensional patches to convey in vitro proliferation of myoblasts (Riboldi et al, 2005;Liao et al, 2008;Caracciolo et al, 2010).…”

Electrospun nanofibers of poly(vinyl alcohol) and chitosan-based emulsions functionalized with cabreuva essential oil

“…The architecture of these nanostructures makes them appropriate for topical applications in which a network composed of nanofibers is placed directly on healthy skin, wounds or burns to release the active compound [5].…”

Synthesis and cellular compatibility of multi-block biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone)-based polyurethanes

“…Recently, polyester-copolymers have attracted considerable attention because of their biodegradation propensity. 13 Indeed PCL-based materials are found in resorbable sutures, 14 drug delivery systems, 15,16 and are used in a variety of tissue engineering applications, [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] such as the repair of bone, 17,19 cardiovascular tissue, 20,21 muscle, 22,23 and knee-joint menisci. 17 However, PCL has some drawbacks, for example degradation and resorption kinetics of PCL are considerably slower than other aliphatic polyesters (e.g., poly(lactic acid)) due to its more hydrophobic nature as well as higher crystallinity.…”