Biocompatible composites based on amphiphilic copolymers and hydroxyapatite

Abstract

This project seeks to develop biocompatible composites from amphiphilic copolymers and particles of hydroxyapatite, both potentially biocompatible, with outlined properties that enable their application in the biomedical area, for example, in the controlled release of drugs, in the constitution of tissues, and so on.The synthesis of amphiphilic copolymers is made from commercial polyethers such as poly(ethylene glycol) (subject to crystallization) and copolymers of ethylene and propylene oxides (amorphous); and polyesters synthesized through ring-opening polymerization of the cyclic monomers L-lactide (resulting in crystallizable PLLA) and lactide (resulting in amorphous PLA), resulting in a polymer matrix with pre-set physicochemical and mechanical properties. Thus, some distinct and novel polymeric materials will be obtained, with both varied chemical composition and molecular weight, to be applied in the final production of composites. Hydroxyapatite particles on the nanometer scale will be synthesized and then treated superficially in order to stabilize them during the process of dispersion in the organic matrix.The composites will be obtained by the casting technique and will be characterized by the morphology and by the mechanical and physicochemical properties. The study of biocompatible composite is an academic and also technological interest, especially in the areas of biomedical application, such as tissue engineering, drug carriers, and so on. (AU)