Improving the miscibility of biodegradable polyester/polyphosphazene blends using cross-linkable polyphosphazene

Biodegradable polyesters and polyphosphazenes are both promising biomaterials for tissue regeneration. A combination of both materials would provide additional advantages over the individual components in aspects of biocompatibility and osteocompatibility. Applications of polyester/polyphosphazene composites, however, were limited due to the severe phase separation. In this study, cross-linkable poly(glycine ethyl ester-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)phosphazene (PGHP) was synthesized. It was blended with poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) or poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), using chloroform as a mutual solvent, and photo-crosslinked before solvent removal. The resulting PLLA (or PLGA)/PGHP composites demonstrated no significant phase separation due to the restricting function of the crosslinked PGHP polymeric network. In comparison with uncrosslinked blends, the mechanical properties of crosslinked composites were remarkably improved, which indicated their strong potential in bone regeneration applications.