Browsing by Subject "additive manufacturing"

Stimuli-responsive polymers have emerged as appealing compounds for the development of high-tech and functional materials. In particular, thermoresponsive polymers have been investigated for a variety of applications. Among these, hydrogel production for additive manufacturing is especially attractive. In fact, hydrogels obtained from synthetic and thermoresponsive polymers can be tailored to obtain biocompatible scaffolds for employment in the biomedical field. Poly(2-oxazolines) and poly(2-oxazines) stand out as promising starting materials for the production of novel hydrogels. In this work, a thermoresponsive and amphiphilic triblock copolymer composed of 2-methyl-2-oxazoline and 2-phenyl-2-oxazine was investigated to determine whether a suitable candidate for biofabrication purposes could be obtained. The copolymer was firstly synthetised, before partial hydrolysis and post-polymerization modification could be carried out. These further manipulations allowed to alter the substituent in position 2 of the 2-methyl-2-oxazoline unit and yield crosslinkable units. The mechanical properties of the triblock were investigated with numerous rheological studies before 3D printing and crosslinking were performed. Crosslinked hydrogels were obtained by using a photoinitiator (Irgacure 2959) and UV radiation. Lastly, swelling behaviour was investigated to determine the capacity of the hydrogels to absorb water and test their durability over time. Overall, this study provided results on specific conditions and parameters required for the fabrication of chemically crosslinked hydrogels, that can be optimised in the future to produce functional materials for additive manufacturing applications.