Acid-cleavable crosslinking agents comprised of tertiary alkyl esters were incorporated into methacrylate terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) photocurable monomer resins at different weight percent amounts to yield degradable covalent networks upon photocuring. These networks were selectively photo-crosslinked into solid cubic and cellular lattice shapes using a mask-projection micro-stereolithography (MP-µSLA) process. This study investigated how geometry and acid-cleavable crosslinker amount dictate shape dissolution in acidic (pH ~ 1) and neutral media (pH ~ 7) relevant to gastrointestinal and body fluid environments respectively. In addition to looking at dissolution properties, we explored how crosslinker amount affects the polymer's viscoelasticity, water sorption, and thermal stability. The biocompatibility of these polymers was evaluated using trypan blue staining viability assay to determine if these 3D-printed networks are suitable for drug delivery applications. The work presented aims to fundamentally investigate the structure-property-function relationship of this novel class of 3D-printed biomaterials.

3D printed acid-cleavable polyethylene glycol methacrylate gels using vat photopolymerization

254th National Meeting (2017)

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