Roohpour Nima, Wasikiewicz Jaroslaw M, Paul Deepen, Vadgama Pankaj, Rehman Ihtesham U
Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials, School of Engineering and Material Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK.
J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2009 Sep;20(9):1803-14. doi: 10.1007/s10856-009-3754-9. Epub 2009 Apr 28.
Polymeric membranes have been used as interfaces between implantable devices and biological tissues to operate as a protective barrier from water exchanging and to enhance biocompatibility. Polyurethanes have been used as biocompatible membranes for decades. In this study, copolymers of polyether urethane (PEU) with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were synthesised with the goal of creating materials with low water permeability and high elasticity. PDMS was incorporated into polymer backbone as a part of the soft segment during polyurethane synthesis and physical properties as well as water permeability of resulting copolymer were studied in regard to PDMS content. Increase in PDMS content led to increase of microphase separation of the copolymer and corresponding increase in elastic modulus. Surface energy of the polymer was decreased by incorporating PDMS compared to unmodified PEU. PDMS in copolymer formed a hydrophobic surface which caused reduction in water permeability and water uptake of the membranes. Thus, PDMS containing polyurethane with its potent water resistant properties demonstrated a great promise for use as an implantable encapsulation material.
聚合物膜已被用作可植入设备与生物组织之间的界面，起到防止水交换的保护屏障作用，并提高生物相容性。聚氨酯作为生物相容性膜已被使用了数十年。在本研究中，合成了聚醚聚氨酯（PEU）与聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）的共聚物，目的是制备具有低透水性和高弹性的材料。在聚氨酯合成过程中，PDMS作为软段的一部分被引入聚合物主链，并研究了所得共聚物的物理性能以及透水性与PDMS含量的关系。PDMS含量的增加导致共聚物微相分离增加，弹性模量相应增加。与未改性的PEU相比，通过掺入PDMS降低了聚合物的表面能。共聚物中的PDMS形成了疏水表面，导致膜的透水性和吸水率降低。因此，具有强大防水性能的含PDMS聚氨酯作为可植入封装材料具有很大的应用前景。
