Macroporous polymer foams by hydrocarbon templating.
Porous polymeric media (polymer foams) are utilized in a wide range of applications, such as thermal and mechanical insulators, solid supports for catalysis, and medical devices. A process for the production of polymer foams has been developed. This process, which is applicable to a wide range of polymers, uses a hydrocarbon particulate phase as a template for the precipitation of the polymer phase and subsequent pore formation. The use of a hydrocarbon template allows for enhanced control over pore structure, porosity, and other structural and bulk characteristics of the polymer foam. Polymer foams with densities as low as 120 mg/cc, porosity as high as 87%, and high surface areas (20 m(2)/g) have been produced. Foams of poly(l-lactic acid), a biodegradable polymer, produced by this process have been used to engineer a variety of different structures, including tissues with complex geometries such as in the likeness of a human nose.
Shastri
V P
VP
Department of Chemical Engineering and Harvard/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. prasha@mit.edu
Martin
I
I
Langer
R
R
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009666:Nose; D011091:Polyesters; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid; C033616:poly(lactide); D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate