New strategy for the synthesis of photo-crosslinkable polyalphaolefin resins and related biocompatible three-dimensional networks

In this research, functionalization of the easily available polyalphaolefin (PAO) based resins is accomplished by the copolymerization of 1-decene with 9-decenol through a facile cationic polymerization route. The resultant co-oligomer was further functionalized with acryloyl chloride to synthesize a macromer product. The exact microstructure of synthesized and modified resins was explored via H-NMR, FTIR and GPC analytical methods. The PAO chains contain roughly 20 monomeric units in which three polymerizable C = C moieties could be embedded. The crosslinking of macromer started by visible light irradiation provided final fabricate. The effect of photo-initiator content on the cross-linking kinetics of the resin was explored using shrinkage strain measurement. The resulting three-dimensional PAO (3D-PO) revealed hydrophilic nature with water contact angle of 65° and excellent cell viability of 93% in the MTT assay. This strategy starts from easily available α-olefin based monomers, employs a facile cationic polymerization procedure, enables modulation of the functional groups in the macromer backbone in order to make it photo-polymerizable, and holds great potential for tissue engineering applications.