Thermoplastic biodegradable shape memory elastomeric composites by dual-electrospinning

Event Abstract Back to Event Thermoplastic biodegradable shape memory elastomeric composites by dual-electrospinning Erin Mcmullin1, 2, Phillip A. Falcone1, 2, Jaimee M. Robertson1, 2 and Patrick T. Mather1, 2 1 Syracuse University, Syracuse Biomaterials Institute, United States 2 Syracuse University, Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, United States Introduction: Electrospinning is a common processing technique employed to produce microscale or nanoscale polymeric fibers from a polymer solution using a high voltage differential. This technique has been used to fabricate shape memory materials – materials that have the ability to fix a temporary shape and return to the original shape upon application of an external stimulus, such as heat[1]. Dual-electrospinning[2], or the process of electrospinning two polymeric solutions simultaneously, is an easy fabrication method to make composites. In the present work, biodegradable shape memory elastomeric composites (SMECs) were fabricated by dual-electrospinning a synthesized thermoplastic, biodegradable, elastomeric polyurethane with linear polycaprolactone (PCL). Materials and Methods: Elastomeric polyurethanes were synthesized with short-chain PCL or caprolactone-containing soft segments and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS), a nanoscale organic/inorganic hybrid material that has a well-defined, low melting point (~ 120ºC), as a hard segment. Figure 1: Dual-electrospinning a biodegradable elastomer and PCL. Once synthesized, this material was dual-electrospun with linear PCL to fabricate shape memory elastomeric composites. After electrospinning, films were made by compression molding the films above PCL’s melting point, but below the melting point of POSS, creating a condensed film of biodegradable elastomeric fibers bonded by PCL. The composition of the material was controlled by varying the flow rates of the two materials and was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry. Results and Discussion: Figure 2: Scanning Electron Micrographs (SEMs) of electrospun fibers of the polyurethane, dual-electrospun fibrous web, and PCL. The elastomers were designed to have a biodegradable soft segment provide elasticity and control the degradation rate, while the biocompatible hard segment physically cross-linked the polymer via crystallization. These synthesized thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers have high molecular weights (> 100 kDa), low modulus (< 15 MPa), and are elastomeric with greater than 70% recovery upon stretching. The compacted dual-electrospun materials have high strain to failure (>1000% strain), composition dependent modulus, and shape memory properties with high fixing and recovery ratios with as little as 7% PCL. In this system, PCL fixes the temporary shape of the material while the elastomer drives recovery to the permanent shape. Further, the materials degrade via hydrolysis and are durable, having greater than 400% strain-to-failure after a month of degradation. Figure 3: Shape memory cycle of a shape memory elastomeric composite, with >90% shape fixing of the strained state and >90% recovery back to the original strain. Conclusion: In conclusion, biodegradable SMECs have been fabricated by dual-electrospinning. The properties of these composites – soft, elastomeric, biodegradable, and shape memory – allow them to be versatile biomaterials for soft applications, such as sutures, stents, or tissue engineering scaffolds for soft tissues. Gerry Fredrickson of Boston Scientific Corporation; Boston Scientific CorporationReferences:[1] P.T. Mather, X. Luo, and I.A. Rousseau. Shape Memory Polymer Research, Annu. Rev. Mater. Res., 2009, 39, 445-471[2] J.M. Robertson, H.B. Nejad, and P.T. Mather. Dual-Spun Shape Memory Elastomeric Composites, ACS Macro Lett., 2015, 4, 436-440 Keywords: composite, Smart material, stimuli-response, Biodegradable material Conference: 10th World Biomaterials Congress, Montréal, Canada, 17 May - 22 May, 2016. Presentation Type: General Session Oral Topic: Environmentally sensitive biomaterials Citation: Mcmullin E, Falcone PA, Robertson JM and Mather PT (2016). Thermoplastic biodegradable shape memory elastomeric composites by dual-electrospinning. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress. doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.00720 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Mar 2016; Published Online: 30 Mar 2016. Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Erin Mcmullin Phillip A Falcone Jaimee M Robertson Patrick T Mather Google Erin Mcmullin Phillip A Falcone Jaimee M Robertson Patrick T Mather Google Scholar Erin Mcmullin Phillip A Falcone Jaimee M Robertson Patrick T Mather PubMed Erin Mcmullin Phillip A Falcone Jaimee M Robertson Patrick T Mather Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.