Acrylate-silica polymer nanocomposites obtained by sol-gel reactions. Structure, properties and scaffold preparation

The manuscript deals with the development and characterization of hybrid materials based on poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) (hereafter PHEA) reinforced by the inclusion of an amorphous silica phase. Both phases were simultaneously synthesized: the organic phase underwent a free radical polymerization reaction induced by the small addition of a thermal initiator (benzoyl peroxide); besides, silica (SiO2) was polymerized by an acid catalyzed sol-gel reaction of the silicon alkoxide tetraethoxysilane (hereafter TEOS). The sol-gel reaction conditions where silicon dioxide is formed influence the final silica structure: degree of condensation, linear versus branched intermediate species, average size, and so on. Some of the key parameters to control SiO2 topology on sol-gel derived composites include the catalyst nature used to increase the alkoxide reactivity (as well as its amount, pH), the available water to hydrolyze the silica precursor (referred to the stoichiometric amount needed to fully hydrolyze one molecule of TEOS) and ratio between the organic and inorganic phases on the final hybrid. The former (catalyst) and the second (water) conditions were fixed so as to synthesize materials with silica average sizes around tens of nanometres (nanocomposites); the latter, the relative ratio between organic and inorganic phases, was systematically changed.;Besides, it is introduced a methodology to prepare a new kind of scaffolds made by nanocomposites whose pore morphology consists of a cylindrical channel mesh, which are perpendicular between themselves. The procedure is based on the well-known method of intermediate templates, this time prepared by a stack of woven fabrics which are first pressed and afterwards sintered. After the filling of the holes left inside the template by the monomeric solution and subsequent thermal polymerization, templates are removed by the selective solvent of the material it is made up. A suitable template preparation is found to be crucial, since the sintering of localized points between neighbour fabrics gives rise to transversal holes which make that porous structure three-dimensionally interconnected. Porosity values equal 60%.