Abstract
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the most superior materials and has been used as a substitute for vitreous humor in the human eye. In previous research, we have succeeded in producing PDMS with low and medium viscosity using octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) monomer with a low grade of 96%. Both have good physical properties and are comparable to commercial product PDMS and PDMS synthesized using D4 monomer with a high grade of 98%. An improvement of the synthesis process is needed to ensure that PDMS synthesized from a low-grade D4 monomer under specific synthesis conditions can repeatedly produce high-quality PDMS. Apart from good physical properties, the PDMS as a substitute for vitreous humor must also be safe and not cause other disturbances to the eyes. Here, we reported the process of synthesizing and characterizing the physical properties of low- and medium-viscosity PDMS using a low-grade D4 monomer. We also reported for the first time the in vitro toxicity test using the Hen’s Egg Test Chorioallantoic Membrane (HET-CAM) test method. We have succeeded in obtaining PDMS with viscosities of 1.15 Pa.s, 1.17 Pa.s, and 1.81 Pa.s. All samples have good physical properties such as refractive index, surface tension, and functional groups that are similar to commercial PDMS. The HET-CAM test results showed that all samples did not show signs of irritation indicating that samples were non-toxic. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that PDMS synthesized from a low-grade D4 monomer under specific synthesis conditions by the ROP method is very safe and has the potential to be developed as a substitute for vitreous humor in human eyes.
Highlights
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the most superior materials and is commonly used to replace the vitreous humor damaged in the human eye through vitreoretinal surgery
We reported for the first time the in vitro toxicity test of these PDMS samples using the Hen’s Egg Test Chorioallantoic Membrane (HET-chorioallantoic membrane (CAM)) test method to obtain information safety and toxicity level of all PDMS samples
The characterization of physical properties showed that the refractive index, surface tension, and functional groups of all PDMS samples were very similar to commercial PDMS and PDMS synthesized using a high-grade D4 monomer
Summary
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the most superior materials and is commonly used to replace the vitreous humor damaged in the human eye through vitreoretinal surgery. Previous studies have reported that the synthesis of PDMS using low-grade D4 monomer has been successfully carried out by the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) method and produced low-viscosity PDMS with properties similar to commercial products and PDMS synthesized using high-grade D4 monomer [12]. It is necessary to improve the synthesis process by repeating the synthesis to ensure that the PDMS synthesized from a low-grade D4 monomer under these synthesis conditions has high-quality PDMS. Our study focuses on how to produce high-quality PDMS from low-grade D4 monomer in the terms of its viscosity, refractive index, surface tension, material content, and safety suitable for use as a vitreous substitute. We reported for the first time the in vitro toxicity test of these PDMS samples using the HET-CAM test method to obtain information safety and toxicity level of all PDMS samples
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