Photopatterning and degradation study of dextran‐glycidyl methacrylate hydrogels

An approach to synthesizing photopatternable enzymatic degradable dextran hydrogel is presented. The glycidyl methacrylate derivatized dextran (Dex‐GMA) was first prepared by reacting dextran with glycidyl methacrylate at 45°C with grafting efficiency of 10%. The degree of substitution (DS) was confirmed by ¹H‐NMR. Next, Dex‐GMA hydrogels were prepared by crosslinking in the presence of a crosslinker: N,N′‐ methylene‐bisacrylamide (NMBA), and a photoinitiator: 2,2′‐dimethoxy‐2‐phenyl acetophenone (DMPA) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solution. Further, the Dex‐GMA hydrogels were photopatterned using liquid‐phase photopolymerization (LP³) technique. The structure size ranged from 5 mm to 300 μm and three different shapes of structures‐ ‐ —round, square, and star‐ ‐ —were demonstrated. The patterned Dex‐GMA hydrogel structures not only exhibited mechanical robustness but also biodegradability. The dextranase‐catalyzed degradation of Dex‐GMA hydrogels with different DS was investigated at 37°C. The morphology of the degraded Dex‐GMA hydrogels determined by SEM revealed the degree of enzymatic degradation due to dextranase. The Dex‐GMA hydrogel was fully degraded by dextranase with concentration of 2 U/ml in 5 days. The Dex‐GMA hydrogel also showed the ability to be readily integrated with microfluidics. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers