Synthesis and characterisation of porous polymer microneedles

This paper presents a study on the synthesis of porous polymers with an application to microneedles. A range of Poly (ethylene glycol-co-methacrylic acid) polymers are synthesised using bulk polymerisation techniques to produce porous polymers with various strength and fluid transport characteristics. The synthesised materials are morphologically and mechanically characterised. Using different porogens in the polymer synthesis results in different mechanical strength and fluid flow characteristics. The results indicate that the fluid flow characteristics of the polymers can be sacrificed to improve strength. Optimum polymer strength can be attained by synthesising polymers with macropores that are interconnected via nanopores using the minimum amount of porogenic solvents.