Designing biomaterials for bone tissue regeneration that are also capable of eluting drugs is challenging. Poly(ester amide)s are known for their commendable mechanical properties, degradation, and cellular response. In this regard, development of new poly(ester amide)s becomes imperative to improve the quality of lives of people affected by bone disorders. In this framework, a family of novel soybean oil based biodegradable poly(ester amide)s was synthesized based on facile catalyst-free melt-condensation reaction. The structure of the polymers was confirmed by FTIR and (1)H -NMR, which indicated the formation of the ester and amide bonds along the polymer backbone. Thermal analysis revealed the amorphous nature of the polymers. Contact angle and swelling studies proved that the hydrophobic nature increased with increase in chain length of the diacids and decreased with increase in molar ratio of sebacic acid. Mechanical studies proved that Young's modulus decreased with decrease in chain lengths of the diacids and increase in molar ratio of sebacic acid. The in vitro hydrolytic degradation and dye release demonstrated that the degradation and release decreased with increase in chain lengths of the diacids and increased with increase in molar ratio of sebacic acid. The degradation followed first order kinetics and dye release followed Higuchi kinetics. In vitro cell studies showed no toxic effects of the polymers. Osteogenesis studies revealed that the polymers can be remarkably efficient because more than twice the amount of minerals were deposited on the polymer surfaces than on the tissue culture polystyrene surfaces. Thus, a family of novel poly(ester amide)s has been synthesized, characterized for controlled release and tissue engineering applications wherein the physical, degradation, and release kinetics can be tuned by varying the monomers and their molar ratios.
Keywords: biodegradable; cytocompatible; drug delivery; mineralization; poly(ester amide)s; soybean oil.