Biodegradable poly(urethane-urea-amide): Synthesis, characterization and mechanical studies

Biodegradable polyurethane with excellent mechanical property finds a lot of applications in the biomedical field. In this study, multi block copolymer poly(urethane-urea-amide) (PUUA) is prepared using polyethylene oxide, 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate and diamide (N-1, N-4-bis(6-aminohexyl)benzene-1,4-dicarboxamide (6T6) orN(1),N-6-bis(6-aminohexyl)hexanediamide (6A6)) by a method of solution/melt polymerization techniques. The polymer formation is confirmed by the(1)H NMR spectroscopic method. Other techniques such as viscosity measurements, FT-IR, DSC, TGA, and biodegradability are used to characterize the synthesized copolymers. The hard segment crystallinity is an analyzed by FT-IR spectroscopy, it revealed that the 6T6 based polymer showed 70% of crystallinity. The synthesized copolymer shows three transitions in the DSC curve. The melting enthalpy of the hard segment depends on the amide unit employed in the polymerization process. These materials are fast crystallizing due to low under cooling value. This material has a very high thermal stability and stable up to 400 degrees C. Tensile test confirms the strain induced crystallization of hard segment occurred in the PUUA. The biodegradability of the polymer depends on the pH and chain extenders. This type of materials can be a good candidate for tissue engineering application.

Automated summary

Biodegradable polyurethane with excellent mechanical property has various applications in the biomedical field. In this study, a multi block copolymer poly(urethane-urea-amide) (PUUA) was successfully prepared using polyethylene oxide, 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate and diamide as monomers. The synthesized copolymers were characterized by various techniques including NMR spectroscopy, viscosity measurements, FT-IR, DSC, TGA, and biodegradability tests. The results showed that the 6T6 based polymer exhibited a high crystallinity of 70% and had a thermal stability up to 400 degrees C. The strain-induced crystallization in the PUUA was confirmed by the tensile test. The biodegradability of the copolymer depended on the pH and chain extenders. These findings suggest that this type of material is a promising candidate for tissue engineering applications.