Photo-crosslinked fabrication of novel biocompatible and elastomeric star-shaped inositol-based polymer with highly tunable mechanical behavior and degradation

Biodegradable and star-shaped polymers with highly tunable structure and properties have attracted much attention in recent years for potential biomedical applications, due to their special structure. Here, inositol-based star-shaped poly-l-lactide-poly(ethylene glycol) (INO-PLLA-PEG) biomedical polymer implants were for the first time synthesized by a facile photo-crosslinking method. This biomaterials show controlled elastomeric mechanical properties (~18 MPa in tensile strength, ~200 MPa in modulus, ~200% in elongation), biodegradability and osteoblasts biocompatibility. These results make INO-PLLA-PEG implants highly promising for bone tissue regeneration and drug delivery applications.