Synthesis and Application for Porous Scaffold Materials of Mono-Methoxy Polyethylene Glycol/Polylactide Diblock Copolymer

An amphiphilic diblock copolymer, consisting of mono-methoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG) and polylactide (PLA), was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization. The chemical structure of the diblock copolymer was verified by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and H-1-NMR, and the weight average molecular weight (M-W) and polydispersity index (PDI) were measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). An mPEG/PLA (20/80) copolymer with a M-W of 4.6 x 10(4) Da and PDI of 1.39 were obtained when polymerization was conducted at 130 degrees C for 36 h using Sn(Oct)(2) as a catalyst. The compressive strength of an mPEG/PLA scaffold was lower than that of a PLA scaffold; however, the introduction of mPEG into the PLA matrix enhanced its hydrophilicity, and it still meets the requirement of cartilage tissue engineering.