Synthesis and Characterization of Biodegradable Elastic Hydrogels Based on Poly(ethylene glycol) and Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blocks

Abstract: Novel biodegradable elastic hydrogels, based on hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks, were syn-thesized via the radical crosslinking reaction of diacrylates of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). PEG and PCL diols were diacrylated with acryloyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine, with the reaction confirmed by FT-IR and 1 H-NMR measurements. The diacrylate polymers were used as building-blocks for the syn-theses of a series of hydrogels, with different block compositions, by simply varying the feed ratios and molecular weights of the block components. The swelling ratio of the hydrogels was controlled by the balance between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks. Usually, the swelling ratio increases with increasing PEG content and decreasing block length within the network structure. The hydrogels exhibited negative thermo-sensitive swelling behavior due to the coexistence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer components in their network structure, and such thermo-responsive swelling/deswelling behavior could be repeated using a temperature cycle, without any sig-nificant change in the swelling ratio. In vitro degradation tests showed that degradation occurred over a 3 to 8 month period. Due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, elasticity and functionality, these hydrogels could be utilized in various biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering and drug delivery systems