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Abstract :
[en] Polyurethane (PUs) is one of the most important polymers and finds applications as elastomers, coatings, adhesives and sealants for automotive or construction. PU is also a material of choice in the biomedical domain due to its good biocompatibility, biodegradation and mechanical properties. Especially, PUs hydrogels have been developed in the last years for biomedical applications such as soft contact lenses, wound dressing, drug delivery systems and scaffolds for tissue engineering. Traditionally, PUs are synthesized by a step-growth polymerization between diols and diisocyanates. Because of toxicity issues and a possible interdiction of isocyanates, we focused on developing new PU hydrogels using a non-isocyanate route (Figure 1). The polyurethanes formed by this route are called NIPU (for Non-Isocyanate PolyUrethane). Firstly, chemically cross-linked NIPU gels were synthesized by solvent-free polycondensation between a hydrophilic CO2-sourced polyethyleneglycol bi-cyclic carbonate and a diamine in the presence of a crosslinker. Then, NIPU gels were swelled in water till water equilibrium before characterization of their mechanical properties by compression tests. The influence of the cross-linking ratios (diamine/crosslinker ratio) and diamine structure on the swelling and the compression properties were studied. To reinforce the compression properties of NIPU hydrogel (increase in stress at break, strain at break and compression modulus), a nanofiller was dispersed in the cyclic carbonate/diamine/crosslinker formulation prior to polymerization. For the first time, nanocomposite NIPU hydrogels with high water contents (up to 80%) and good compression properties have been prepared by using low clay content.