Title : 
Water uptake behavior of tyrosine-derived carbonates and copolymers
         
        
            Author : 
Thakur, R. ; Sousa, A. ; Libera, M. ; Michniak, B. ; Kohn, J.
         
        
            Author_Institution : 
Dept. of Pharm. Sci., State Univ. of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
         
        
        
        
        
        
            Abstract : 
We measure the total water uptake and water flux in homopolymer tyrosine-derived carbonates (DTE) as well as in copolymers of DTE-PEG. We study total water uptake by 3H-labeled radioactive water, and we observe that PEG substantially increases the absorbed amount compared with the homopolymers. Likewise, flux studies reveal that flux is higher in the PEG-containing carbonates. To assess the high spatial distribution of water in these copolymers we use spatially-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy. For the case of DTE-8% PEG we find no statistically significant variations in water content greater than 100 nm length scales.
         
        
            Keywords : 
biomedical materials; electron energy loss spectra; polymer blends; 3H-labeled radioactive water; copolymers; electron energy-loss spectroscopy; homopolymer; spatial distribution; tyrosine-derived carbonates; water; Biomedical measurements; Chemical technology; Compression molding; Electron microscopy; Organic materials; Pharmaceuticals; Polymer films; Spectroscopy; Throughput; Water;
         
        
        
        
            Conference_Titel : 
Bioengineering Conference, 2005. Proceedings of the IEEE 31st Annual Northeast
         
        
            Print_ISBN : 
0-7803-9105-5
         
        
            Electronic_ISBN : 
0-7803-9106-3
         
        
        
            DOI : 
10.1109/NEBC.2005.1431990