Preparation and investigation of hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile as a preliminary biomedical hydrogel

Ji Hoon Park; Guo Zhe Tai; Bo Keun Lee; Seung Hun Park; Ja Yong Jang; Jung Soo Lee; Jae Ho Kim; Kwideok Park; Ju Woong Jang; Moon Suk Kim

doi:10.1186/s40824-015-0043-1

Preparation and investigation of hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile as a preliminary biomedical hydrogel

Biomater Res. 2015 Oct 26:19:20. doi: 10.1186/s40824-015-0043-1. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon, 443-759 South Korea.
² Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon, 443-759 South Korea ; R&DB Center, Cellumed Co., Ltd., Seoul, 153-803 South Korea.
³ Center for Biomaterials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 136-791 South Korea.
⁴ R&DB Center, Cellumed Co., Ltd., Seoul, 153-803 South Korea.

Abstract

Background: Hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile (HPAN) has attracted much attention as a hydrogel for a broad range of biomedical applications. Therefore, in this study, we prepared HPAN derivatives with controllable compositions by the radical polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN), methacrylic acid (MAA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) monomers.

Results: The prepared poly(AN-co-MAA-co-NIPAM) copolymers had different ratios of AN, MAA, and NIPAM and molecular weights ranging from 2000 to 50,000. The copolymers were prepared as films to examine their properties. The prepared copolymer films showed different solubilities, contact angles, and swelling ratios. The properties of the copolymer films were affected by the hydrophobic PAN segments and the hydrophilic PMAA or PNIPAM segments.

Conclusion: Thus, we conclude that introducing PMAA and PNIPAM segments with different ratios and lengths into PAN segments could represent a method of controlling the hydrogel properties of copolymers.

Keywords: Biomedical applications; Hydrogel; Hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile; Radical polymerization; Swelling.