Advanced biocomposites of poly(glycerol sebacate) and β-tricalcium phosphate by in situ microwave synthesis for bioapplication

Abstract

Biodegradable poly(glycerol sebacate) [PGS] has gained substantial attention in the soft tissue engineering field over the past few years, but its application is limited because its fast degradation rate causes an acidic environment which can adversely affect cell viability and eventually tissue growth. β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) is an ideal biocompatible candidate to mitigate these drawbacks of PGS. This work for the first time rationalizes a biocomposite composed of PGS and β-TCP prepared by a fast and well-controlled microwave approach. As expected, the presence of β-TCP particles (i) improves the degree of cross-linking of PGS, thus decreasing the sol content by ca. 66%, (ii) enhances its hydrophilicity with much lower contact angle, (iii) reduces the degradation rate by a factor of two and (iv) increases the swelling effect of the biocomposite by ca. 10%. Furthermore both PGS/β-TCP150 and PGS/β-TCP180 biocomposites demonstrate significant difference in cell viability form the single PGS materials, which is more than 65% higher in cell growth in one day proliferation, demonstrating an advanced biomaterial embodying both advantages of PGS polymer and β-TCP bioceramics.