Microwave-assisted rapid synthesis of poly(glycerol-sebacate) elastomers

Poly(glycerol-sebacate) (PGS) was introduced a decade ago as a potential material for soft tissue repair. All of the proposed copolymerization reactions in the literature include a two-stage (prepolymerization and curing) synthesis where the reaction times can take as long as several days. This study, on the other hand, proposes a new route that eliminates these disadvantages and enables a rapid synthesis of PGS elastomers viamicrowave-assisted prepolymerization in minutes instead of days. No purge gas, catalyst or vacuum is needed in the first prepolymerization step. The curing stage was carried out at 150 degree C for 4, 8, 16, and 24 hours. The glass transition temperature (T sub(g)) and melting temperatures for the glycerol and sebacic acid fragments (T sub(m) sub(1)and T sub(m) sub(2) of these PGS elastomers were found as -35.61 degree C, -15.82 degree C, and 61.70 degree C, respectively. The Young's modulus and tensile strength values were found as 0.50 plus or minus 0.02 MPa and 0.27 plus or minus 0.06 MPa, respectively.