Abstract
Summary: Syntheses of wholly natural polymeric linseed oil (PLO) containing peroxide groups have been reported. Peroxidation, epoxidation and/or perepoxidation reactions of linseed oil, either under air or under oxygen flow at room temperature, resulted in polymeric peroxides, PLO‐air and PLO‐ofl, containing 1.3 and 3.5 wt.‐% of peroxide, with molecular weights of 2 100 and 3 780 Da, respectively. PLO‐air contained cross‐linked film up to 46.1 wt.‐% after a reaction time of 60 d, associated with a waxy, soluble part (PLO‐air‐s) that was isolated with chloroform extraction. PLO‐ofl was obtained as a waxy, viscous liquid without any cross‐linked part at the end of 24 d under visible irradiation and oxygen flow. Polymeric peroxides, PLO‐air‐s and PLO‐ofl initiated the free radical polymerization of both methyl methacrylate (MMA) and styrene (S) to give PMMA‐graft‐PLO and PS‐graft‐PLO graft copolymers in high yields with $\overline M _{\rm w}$ varying from 37 to 470 kDa. The polymers obtained were characterized by FT‐IR, ^1^H NMR, TGA, DSC and GPC techniques. Cross‐linked polymers were also studied by means of swelling measurements. PMMA‐graft‐PLO graft copolymer film samples were also used in cell‐culture studies. Fibroblast cells were well adhered and proliferated on the copolymer film surfaces, which is important in tissue engineering.
Proliferation of the fibroplast cells on the PS‐graft‐PLO film.
magnified imageProliferation of the fibroplast cells on the PS‐graft‐PLO film.