Polymerization of carbohydrate-based monomers

• Grant number: 15/23190-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 04, 2016
• End date: April 03, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Maria Isabel Felisberti
• Grantee: Giovanni Bortoloni Perin
• Supervisor: Katja Loos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Groningen, Netherlands
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/14232-3 - Hydrogels based on polymethacrylates of glucose and fructose, BP.IC

Abstract

The project "Polymerization of carbohydrate-based monomers" aims the synthesis of chemically crosslinked hydrogel based on the homo- and copolymerization of 6-O-glucose methacrylate (GluMA) and 6-O-fructose methacrylate (FruMA) using different radical polymerization methods. These hydrogels are expected to be biodegradable and biocompatible and also present high swelling capability due to the presence of the carbohydrate pendant groups in the polymeric chain and dimensional stability and mechanical resistance due to crosslinking. These characteristics are fundamental in materials used in the biomedical area, such as drug delivery systems, synthetic tissues, cell culture media and so on. Therefore, the characterization of these hydrogels will be made concerning their composition, water swelling behavior and thermomechanical properties. (AU)