Furmidge, R., Jackson, C.E., Velázquez de la Paz, M.F. et al. (5 more authors) (2023) Surfactant-free gelatin-stabilised biodegradable polymerised high internal phase emulsions with macroporous structures. Frontiers in Chemistry, 11. 1236944. ISSN 2296-2646
Abstract
High internal phase emulsion (HIPE) templating is a well-established method for the generation of polymeric materials with high porosity (>74%) and degree of interconnectivity. The porosity and pore size can be altered by adjusting parameters during emulsification, which affects the properties of the resulting porous structure. However, there remain challenges for the fabrication of polyHIPEs, including typically small pore sizes (∼20–50 μm) and the use of surfactants, which can limit their use in biological applications. Here, we present the use of gelatin, a natural polymer, during the formation of polyHIPE structures, through the use of two biodegradable polymers, polycaprolactone-methacrylate (PCL-M) and polyglycerol sebacate-methacrylate (PGS-M). When gelatin is used as the internal phase, it is capable of stabilising emulsions without the need for an additional surfactant. Furthermore, by changing the concentration of gelatin within the internal phase, the pore size of the resulting polyHIPE can be tuned. 5% gelatin solution resulted in the largest mean pore size, increasing from 53 μm to 80 μm and 28 μm to 94 µm for PCL-M and PGS-M respectively. In addition, the inclusion of gelatin further increased the mechanical properties of the polyHIPEs and increased the period an emulsion could be stored before polymerisation. Our results demonstrate the potential to use gelatin for the fabrication of surfactant-free polyHIPEs with macroporous structures, with potential applications in tissue engineering, environmental and agricultural industries.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 Furmidge, Jackson, Velázquez de la Paz, Workman, Green, Reilly, Hearnden and Claeyssens. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | emulsion templating; gelatin; poly(glycerol sebacate); polyHIPE; polycaprolactone; porous polymers; surfactant-free |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 11 Sep 2023 11:54 |
Last Modified: | 11 Sep 2023 11:54 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media SA |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fchem.2023.1236944 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:203236 |