Biodegradable and crosslinkable poly(propylene fumarate) liquid crystal polymers

Abstract

In recent years, liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) have attracted extensive attention due to their widespread application in artificial muscles, engineering plastics, high-modulus fibers, etc. However, the design and fabrication of LCP materials with excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and mechanical properties are still challenging. Here, we synthesized two poly(propylene fumarate)-backbone LCPs (PPF-LCPs) by ring opening polymerization (ROP) between two cholesterol-based epoxy monomers and maleic anhydride, and a successive isomerization process. The resulting PPF-LCPs bearing biocompatible cholesterol units exhibit good thermal stability and a highly ordered Smectic A phase. Moreover, a UV-initiated chemical crosslinking of the unsaturated PPF main chain dramatically strengthens the mechanical performance of the corresponding PPF-LCP materials. Furthermore, the in vitro degradation experiments indicate the good biodegradability of crosslinked PPF-LCP films. These novel PPF-LCPs are of potential utility as biological tissue engineering materials.