Tunability of polycaprolactone hydrophilicity by carboxymethyl cellulose loading

[EN] Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is herein proposed as additive in polycaprolactone (PCL) matrices to obtain composites with tunable hydrophilicity. This composite material can be obtained by compression molding. The thermogravimetric degradation profile, the FTIR spectra, values of the water contact angle (WCA), water and phosphate-buffered saline uptake values, and the results of a cytotoxicity assessment are presented herein. The concentrations of CMC in the groups of samples are 0, 2, 5, 10, and 20%. The WCA on the prewetted state decreases proportionally to the concentration of the additive. These results evidence the possibility of obtaining a PCL-based composite with tunable hydrophilicity. Besides, the biological assessment does not reveal any cytotoxic effects. Therefore, the addition of CMC entails an innovative strategy to control the water affinity of PCL in biomedical applications where such feature is required to improve diffusion of biological medium through, or accelerate degradation by hydrolysis.M.E.A.D. expresses her gratitude for the funding through the PhD Grant Program of ULPGC (Code of the grant: PIFULPGC-2014-ING-ARQU-2). J.A.G.T., A.V.L., and G.V.F. acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project DPI2015-65401-C3-2-R (including the FEDER financial support).Alemán-Domínguez, M.; Ortega, Z.; Benítez, A.; Vilariño, G.; Gómez-Tejedor, JA.; Vallés Lluch, A. (2017). Tunability of polycaprolactone hydrophilicity by carboxymethyl cellulose loading. Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 135(14):1-6. https://doi.org/10.1002/app.46134S161351