Compositional study and cytotoxicity of biodegradable poly(ester urethane)s consisting of poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] and poly(ethylene glycol)

Biodegradable PHB–PEG multi-block polyurethane copolymers comprising PHB blocks (Mn: 1100, 1740 and 3240) and PEG blocks (Mn: 1960, 3250, 4150 or 7950) were synthesized followed by characterization by GPC, 1H NMR, and FT-IR. The PHB contents ranged from 9 to 62% by weight. The copolymers displayed improved thermal stabilities compared with their respective precursors. The morphological structures of the copolymers were studied by FT-IR, DSC and XRD. FT-IR revealed the existence of amorphous and crystalline phases of PHB. Both DSC and XRD analyses showed that separate crystalline phases are formed by PEG and PHB blocks in the copolymers. Upon annealing, the melting transition temperature (Tm), melting enthalpy (ΔHm) and the fractional crystallinity (Xc) of the PEG block increased when the length of PEG incorporated into the copolymer increased. These values were higher when the PHB block length is shorter as the shorter PHB chain does not disrupt the crystallization of PEG as much as the longer PHB chain. A similar disruptive effect on the crystallization of PHB segments was observed by varying PEG chain lengths but the effect is less pronounced compared with the PEG segments. A comparison of the swelling properties of the poly(ester urethane)s showed that the length and crystalline properties of the PHB block significantly affects the water uptake properties of the copolymers. The crystalline properties and the water uptake capacities of the copolymers could be fine-tuned by consideration of the length of the PHB and PEG block incorporated. The results of the cytotoxicity tests demonstrated that the poly(PHB/PEG) urethanes were non-cytotoxic and could potentially be used for biomedical purposes.