Modulating stability and mechanical properties of silica–gelatin hybrid by incorporating epoxy‐terminated polydimethylsiloxane oligomer

Silica‐gelatin hybrids, particularly GT‐G hybrids prepared by crosslinking gelatin (G) with γ‐glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GT), have attracted much attention in tissue engineering for diverse applications in hard or soft tissue regeneration; however, scaffolds with tunable properties are needed to meet specific requirements. In this work, a silica‐gelatin hybrid (ES/GT‐G) was synthesized by incorporating epoxy‐terminated polydimethylsiloxane oligomer (ES) to modulate the properties of GT‐G hybrid. The ES/GT‐G hybrid sponge presented a 3D network structure with porosity 86.4% ± 0.9%, determined by the liquid displacement method, and average pore size 340 ± 36 μm, determined by SEM observation. Compared with GT‐G hybrid material, the prepared ES/GT‐G hybrid wet film showed a decrease of tensile strength from 2.79 ± 0.04 MPa to 1.87 ± 0.12 MPa, with an increase of elongation at break from 19.96 ± 0.66% to 29.86 ± 0.87%, and the ES/GT‐G hybrid sponge exhibited a decline of compressive yield strength from 1.21 ± 0.04 MPa to 0.72 ± 0.06 MPa, based on the tensile and compression tests respectively. The introduction of ES enhanced the thermal denaturing temperature of GT‐G by 5°C as determined by a DSC study, and increased in vitro biodegradation slightly, without significantly changing surface wettability and swelling behavior. These findings suggest that silica‐gelatin hybrids with tunable properties are promising for applications from hard to soft tissue regeneration. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43059.