Poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (72/28) interconnected porous membranes obtained by crystallization from sol
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Poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (72/28) interconnected porous membranes obtained by crystallization from solution Armando Ferreira1, Jaime Silva1,2, Vitor Sencadas1, José Luís Gómez-Ribelles3,4,5 and Senentxu Lanceros-Méndez1,* 1 2
Centro/Departamento de Física, Universidade do Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. IPC-Institute for Polymers and Composites, University of Minho, 4800-058, Guimarães,
Portugal. 3
Centro de Biomateriales y Ingineria Tisular, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46022,
Valencia, Spain. 4
Regenerative Medicine Unit, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Autopista del Saler 16,
46013 Valencia, Spain. 5
CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Valencia, Spain.
ABSTRACT Electroactive macroporous poly[(vinylidene fluoride)-co-trifluoroethylene] membranes have been processed by solvent evaporation at room temperature with different polymer/solvent concentrations. The pore architecture consists on interconnected spherical pores and this morphology is independent of the membrane thickness. The porosity of the produced membranes increases from 72% for the higher polymer concentration in the polymer/solvent solution (15/85), up to 80% for the lowest polymer concentration in the polymer/solvent solution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry measurements reveal that the polymer crystallizes in the ferroelectric phase and the polymer/solvent ratio does not influences the Curie transition and the melting temperature of the polymer. INTRODUCTION Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers with trifluoroethylene (P(VDFTrFE)) have attracted technological and scientific interest due to their outstanding electroactive properties [1-2] among polymer materials and as they can be implemented from industrial [3] to biomedical applications [4]. Concerning applications as a biomaterial, PVDF and VDF (vinylidene fluoride) copolymers can be unique materials due to their piezoelectric properties that can be used in cell culture “ex-vivo” under mechanical and electrical excitation in tissue engineering techniques [5].
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Laroche et al. reported that PVDF can be applied in the form of non absorbable syntetic sutures for vascular surgery [6]. It was observed some surface oxidation and water imbibitions of the polymer with no significantly modification of the tensile strength of the PVDF suture, which retained 92.5% of its original value. PVDF porous structures can also be taylored for applications as smart scaffolds with controled fiber distribution and electroactive β-phase content [7-8]. A number of experimental procedures are available to produce porous PVDF with controlled pore morphology. One of the most important requirements for cell culture is an interconnected pore structure that allows cell seeding and diffusion of nutrients and waste products of the cell metabolism. One of the successful procedures to prepare porous PVDF is thermally induced phase separation, TIPS [9]. In this procedure, PVDF is dissolved at high temperature
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