Using solvent-free approach for preparing innovative biopolymer nanocomposites based on PGS/gelatin

Biopolymers have been studied as developing materials applying for different parts, such as scaffolds in tissue engineering. For soft applications, elastomeric materials have been considered as a promising candidate in many unique applications recently. Among them, new elastomeric aliphatic polyester is synthesized by poly-condensation of sebacic acid and glycerol to produce poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS). This synthesis has positive and negative aspects, which can limit the vast application of the material on the final properties of PGS blends. Hence, recent studies have been focused on modifying this new polyester. In this study, gelatin is used as a natural biocompatible biopolymer to be incorporated into PGS in order to tune its properties. The PGS based samples are mixed and reacted by in-situ polymerization with gelatin and filled with graphene oxide as well as clay nanoparticles, which were synthesized successfully. The structure, morphology, hydrophilicity and thermal features of the samples are characterized by FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, TGA, DMTA and contact angle analysis. Additionally, degradation and swelling properties are evaluated to find out the biodegradability performance of PGS. The most extraordinary achievements of this research were the tuning capability of each component (gelatin, GO and clay), which are going to be discussed from different windows, all of which originates from the compatibility of substances and thus its persuading microstructure.