Application of Poly(Glycerol Itaconic Acid) (PGIt) and Poly(ɛ-caprolactone) Diol (PCL-diol) as Macro Crosslinkers Containing Cloisite Na + to Application in Tissue Engineering

Biomaterials are a crucial issue in the field of tissue engineering. Two types of polymeric biomaterials, such as Poly(glycerol Itaconic acid) (PGIt) and Poly(ɛ-caprolactone) diol (PCL-diol), were synthesized by polycondensation and ring opening polymerization (ROP) respectively. The PCL-diol was selected as a minor phase with 30 and 50 wt%, and Closite-Na + was selected as the nanophase with a constant amount of 5 wt%. Molecular structures PGIt and PCL-diol were analyzed by FTIR, 1 H-NMR, and GPC techniques. Microstructures showing the presence of PCL-diol in the PGIt have not created compatible morphologies, albeit the presence of clay nanoparticles has helped to achieve the proper morphologies. Low angle XRD showed exfoliated, and intercalated morphologies can be predicted to pure PGIt and PGIt 70 PCLdiol 30 Clay 5 samples. Mechanical analysis showed that Young’s modulus and elongation at the break of PGIt 50 PCLdiol 50 Clay 5 and PGIt 100 samples were higher than other samples. DMTA analysis showed that adding PCL-diol into the PGIt increased glass transition temperature ( T g ) and storage modulus at 37 °C. The master curve of the studied samples was prepared by the WLF equation at body temperature. Hydrocatalytical degradation, contact angles, and MTT analysis showed that all samples behave well in biological conditions. Cell adhesion, Dapi, and Alizarin red analysis were carried out on the selected samples, and their results showed that the presence of PCL-diol and Clay into the PGIt has improved the biological behavior of the sample and PGIt 50 PCLdiol 50 Clay 5 shows just behavior.