The present proposal aims to develop novel biocompatible polymers based on hydrogels and
biodegradable copolymers for the regeneration of skeletal connected and overlying tissues. To this end, novel biomaterials will be applied in vitro to characterize them for skeletal tissue regeneration otitis applications. As starting materials to develop hydrogel-based biomaterials, a combination of crosslinkable thiols and acrylates/acrylamides together with ‘bio-inspired’ dopamine moieties will be introduced onto the biopolymers backbone. The properties of the obtained hydrogels can even be further finetuned towards the specific requirements (molecular weight, mechanical, processability, thermal, …) by also focusing on a second class of polymers, namely biodegradable polyester-based copolymers. The latter polymers will in a next step also be modified to enable a slow release of antibiotics after application to create a long-term antibacterial activity.
The structural, chemical and mechanical properties of the materials developed as well as the in vitro biocompatibility and cell interaction aspects will be assessed. Finally the novel polymers to be developed will be compared with benchmarked biopolymers.