(252a) Novel Porous Polymer/ceramic Composite Material For Tissue Engineering Applications

A novel porous polymer/ceramic composite material is synthesized by depositing ultrathin ceramic films on highly porous poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) (PS-DVB) particles using a low-temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) process in a scalable fluidized bed reactor. The PS-DVB particles have the porosity of about 85%, the pore volume of 8-10 cm3/g, the surface area of 43.5 m2/g and the density of 70 kg/m3. ALD experiments are conducted to deposit alumina films by alternating doses of trimethylaluminum (TMA) and H2O on the highly porous PS-DVB particles at 33 ºC. The composition of alumina is confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The alumina films are deposited throughout the inner and outer surfaces of the porous polymer particles. The deposition is verified by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Conformal coatings of alumina are confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and cross sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results of surface area and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) of the uncoated and nanocoated particles confirm that the primary pore filling mechanism is a conformal coating of the internal pore walls. This process can produce reinforced porous structures with enhanced biocompatibility and improved tissue interaction, while maintaining the original structure and properties of the substrates.