Synthesis and characterization of electro-active and biodegradable block copolymer of aniline pentamer with polylactide

Every slight movement of human body, such as beat of heart, contract of muscles, thinking of brain, is associated with bioelectricity. In search for a neural conducting tissue engineering material which can ideally conduct bioelectrical signals in vivo, the block copolymer of polylactide (PLA) and aniline pentamer - a material which is electro-active, remarkably biocompatible and biodegradable, was designed and synthesized. The aniline pentamer is similar with poly aniline in electrical chemical properties, but more soluble than the latter. The copolymer is prepared by condensation polymerization between carboxyl-capped aniline pentamer and dihydroxyl-capped PLA, with N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) as a condensing agent. The co-polymerization of aniline pentamer and PLA can not only reduce the toxicity of aniline pentamer, but also make the material easily to degrade and excrete from the body. These properties of the copolymer provide a favorable prospect in biomedical application in vivo. The synthesized material is investigated by FTTR, ¹H NMR, UV, and cyclic voltammetric measurements.