Shear thinning silicone-PEG block copolymers

Abstract

In this work, we created shear thinning block copolymers that could be potentially utilized as an artificial vitreous replacement. The materials were created using poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and silicone polymers, respectively, due to their high biocompatibility. Both the ABA and BAB geometry triblock copolymers were created and were characterized using parallel plate and cone-and plate rheometers. It was observed that the materials from both geometries exhibited a decrease in viscosity with increasing shear rates, thus fulfilling the criteria of being a shear thinning material. The materials were also characterized under different aqueous conditions. It was observed that the materials with a higher PEG composition were better able to retain their physical structure – did not disperse into aqueous solutions – at higher water content levels. The materials that retained their structure were also shown to retain their shear thinning properties. In the absence of solvent, the opacity of the materials increased with increasing PEG composition ratio per copolymer chain. When exposed to different aqueous conditions, the opacity of the materials was found to decrease at specific water concentrations. Materials with larger PEG blocks required a greater water content to exhibit optimal light transmission.