Biodegradable poly(xylitol sebacate dodecanoate)/nano-hydroxyapatite composite for potential used in biomedical applications

In this study, dodecanedioic acid (DDA) was added into low modulus Poly(xylitol sebacate) (PXS) as the third monomer in order to increase its strength. A series of novel poly(xylitol sebacate dodecanoate) (PXSD) were synthesized by the simple green method and the starting materials for synthesizing these polymers are xylitol (X), sebacic acid (SA) and dodecanedioic acid (DDA) with different ratios of monomer (xylitol: sebacic acid: dodecanedioic acid); PXSD 1(1: 0.25: 0.75), PXSD 2 (1: 0.5: 0.5) and PXSD 3 (1: 0.75: 0.25). The specimens demonstrated the features of a stiff elastic-plastic material at room temperature (25 °C), and then became soft and pliable at physiological temperature (37 °C). PXSD 1 with the highest content of DDA was selected as the polymer matrix to fabricate Poly(xylitol sebacate dodecanoate)/nanohydroxyapatite (PXSD/n-HA) composites with varying concentrations of n-HA (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%) because it has outstanding value in thermal, mechanical and degradation properties. Incorporation of n-HA within the matrix had further increased the thermal properties, tensile strength and Young’s modulus but reduced in percentage strain at break, and in vitro degradation rate.