Temperature effects on the phase behaviour of PMPC polymer

• Main Author: Woo, Kok Jian
• Other Authors: Yu Jing
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/156211
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Poly(2-methacryloxyehtyl phosphorylcholine) (PMPC) shows great potential in the biomedical industry. This is due to their high biocompatibility and bio-inertness. They also possess properties such as anti-fouling and lubricative. Due to all these properties, it can be utilise as coating for implants to reduce osteolysis. PMPC, however, has not been well studied in terms of its phase behaviour. To do that, the aim of this project is to analyse the phase behaviour of PMPC polymer and hence construct a phase diagram. UV-Vis spectrometry is used to analyse the phase behavior of the polymer. To determine the phase transition temperature, data obtained from the spectrometry are used to plot against the polymer concentration. Then only phase diagram can be determined. The phase diagram constructed shows that PMPC exhibit combination of Upper Critical Solution Temperature (UCST) and Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST), and a single-phase in between the UCST and LCST. Furthermore, UCST and LCST both showed a decreasing trend when concentration of polymer increases.