The study of Poly (erythritol-co-dodecanedioate)/ lignocellulose nanofiber for tissue engineering application

To develop degradable nanocomposite with a good combination of sustainability and having low degradation rate, the biocompatibility of Poly (erythritol-co-dodecanedioate) / lignocellulose nanofiber (LCPED) nanocomposite have been compared with poly(erythritol-co-dodecanedioate) (PED) elastomer. Under the same degree of crosslinked density, the PED elastomer networks have approximately twice the deformation of their LCPED counterparts. We surprisingly found that the hydrophilic lignocellulose nanofibers did not accelerate the water attack on the ester bonds of the LCPED network compared with their PED counterpart. This result was attributed to a steric hindrance effect, i.e., the large-sized lignin groups can interact with ester groups and preserve them to attack water molecules. To conclude, using lignocellulosic biomass with hydrophilic groups has a practical approach to maintaining flexibility while enhancing the degradation rate of polyester elastomers.