Recent developments in biodegradable block copolymers

Abstract

Block copolymers consist of two or more segments of polymer chains in a typical arrangement through connected covalent bonds. Biodegradable block copolymers have emerged as useful carriers for controlled drug release, tissue engineering, and other biomedical applications due to their ability to form colloidal systems and tunable properties. This review focuses on recent advancements in the synthesis, characterization, and biomedical applications of biodegradable block copolymers.

Recent Developments in Oral Delivery of Vaccines Using Nanocarriers

“…Researchers have tried many ways to elevate the stability of antigens in the low pH of the stomach, and one of those methods was to conjugate polyethylene glycol (PEG) on both sides of PLA, which encapsulates hepatitis B surface antigens, and this encapsulation protects the antigens from degradation in gastric fluids and showed enhanced intestinal uptake. This conjugation provided increased immunogenicity even with a single oral dose, eliminating the need for a booster dose [ 56 ]. By contrast, this copolymerization reduced the entrapment efficiency of enclosed antigens [ 3 ].…”

Self-Switchable Polymerization: A Smart Approach to Sequence-Controlled Degradable Copolymers

“…To this end, integrating PLA with other distinct polymer into block copolymers becomes an ideal choice to improve the performance of PLA . Beyond PLA, many other sustainable block copolymers also show significant improvement over pristine homopolymers in the context of morphologies, thermal and elastic properties, etc . In addition, the precise control of monomer sequence is also a central challenge in polymer chemistry and can significantly affect the behavior of polymeric materials. − …”

“…15 Beyond PLA, many other sustainable block copolymers also show significant improvement over pristine homopolymers in the context of morphologies, thermal and elastic properties, etc. 16 In addition, the precise control of monomer sequence is also a central challenge in polymer chemistry and can significantly affect the behavior of polymeric materials. 17−23 In recent years, there has been a surge of interests in using switching agents to control polymerizations and synthesize tailored block copolymers.…”

The effect of hydroxyapatite filler on biodegradable poly(sorbitol sebacate malate) composites

“…[5][6][7][8][9] Although thermoplastic biodegradable polyesters such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), and their copolymers (PLGA) have been widely investigated, these polyesters have drawbacks such as rigid mechanical properties, heterogeneous hydrolytic degradation, nonlinear loss of mechanical strength versus mass-loss, and acidic degradation by-products. [10][11][12][13] On the other hand, thermoset biodegradable polyesters such as poly(glycerol sebacate), 14 poly(diol citrate) 15 and poly(1,8-octanediol-glycerol-dodecanediaote) 16 demonstrated better physical properties which include linear degradation profiles, tunable mechanical properties and elasticity.According to Yang et al, 15 soft and elastomeric materials are expected to be able to transfer mechanical stress and recover from deformations without causing inflammation to the surrounding tissues.…”