BIOSTABLE POLYURETHANE MATERIALS FOR CHONDRAL IMPLANTS: IN-SITU MONITORING OF URETHANE POLYMERIZATION
The aims of our work are to produce novel softer TPCU- and TSiPCU-based materials with a controlled segmental distribution and length in the polymer chain on a kg-scale
A series of novel biomedical TPCUs with different percentages of hard segment and a silicone component in the soft segment were synthesized in a multi-stage one-pot method. The kinetic profiles of the urethane formation in TPCU-based copolymer systems were monitored by rheological, in line FTIR spectroscopic (React IR) and real-time calorimetric (RC1) methods. This process-analytically monitored multi step synthesis was successfully used to optimize the production of medical-grade TPCU elastomers on preparative scale (in lots of several kg) with controlled molecular structure and mechanical properties.
The mechanic response of the elastomer end-products to compression and tensile loading was systematically studied for controlling the reproducibility of the synthetic procedure as well as for selecting the best material specimens for the biological tests. UTS, hardness and CS1200N of the elastomer products synthesized in 0.5L and 2.0L reactors were highly dependent on the composition, but, were not significantly affected by the selected up-scaling strategy.
/ L. Kutuzova, O. Rain, W. Song, R. Koslik, G. Lorenz, A. Kandelbauer /
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financial support & acknowledgement
Financial support of this project by BMBF under grand number 01EC1406C (TOKMIS) as well as by GEPRIS.DFG project 253160297 are gratefully acknowledged.