Highly pH-Sensitive Polyurethane Designed for Switching both Shape Memory and Drug Release

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Polymer Chemistry

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http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/py/c4py00474d#!divAbstract

Related resources, Design for Disassembly, Eco-Design, Environment and AD Technology guidelines related to this can be downloaded for free at:

http://www.activedisassembly.com/strategy/

Paper

Highly pH-Sensitive Polyurethane Designed for Switching both Shape Memory and Drug Release

shaobing Zhou,   Hongmei Chen,   Ying Li,   Y Liu,  Tao Gong and   Lin Wang  

Polym. Chem., 2014, Accepted Manuscript

DOI: 10.1039/C4PY00474D
Received 03 Apr 2014, Accepted 01 May 2014
First published online 02 May 2014

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In this study, a highly pH-sensitive polymer is synthesised by introducing pyridine rings into the backbone of polyurethane. The chemical structure of the resulting materials is confirmed by FT-IR and 1H-NMR. To analyse the mechanism of the pH sensitivity of this polymer, its structural transformations under acidic and basic conditions are studied by FT-IR, theoretical calculation and 1H-NMR. We observe that the mechanism of pH responsiveness is the formation of a hydrogen bond interaction between the N atom of the pyridine ring and the H-N of urethane in neutral or alkaline environments which is disrupted under acidic conditions due to the protonation of the pyridine ring. The pH-sensitivity is demonstrated by simply adjusting the pH value of the environment, which can act as a switch to control shape memory and drug release. Unlike other systems with thermally sensitive behaviour, the shape memory functionality of this material is independent of temperature, which is dependent only on the variation in the pH of the environment. This strategy provides a potent tool for the design of multifunctional materials based on the physiological environment to fulfil the complex requirements of drug delivery and tissue engineering systems.

For related shape memory application resources, Design for Disassembly, Eco-Design, Environment and AD Technology guidelines related to this can be downloaded for free at:

http://www.activedisassembly.com/strategy/