(2015) 'Fully biodegradable and biocompatible emulsion template polymer scaolds by thiol-acrylate polymerisation of polycaprolactone macropolymers.', Polymer chemistry., 6 (41). pp. 7256-7263. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5PY00721FPublisher's copyright statement:Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. The emulsion templating process offers a route to highly porous polymers with well--defined morphologies. This study describes the preparation of such porous polymers (polyHIPEs) via the photopolymerization of a multi--functional thiol and polycaprolactone macromonomer. The resulting materials have nominal porosities of 90% and 95%, and are seen to have an interconnected pore morphology, with an average pore diameter of approximately 60 µm. Initial biocompatibility assessments with fibroblast cells (L929) have shown that the polymers are capable of supporting cell growth over 7 days and degradation products are non--toxic to cells up to a concentration of 0.1 mg ml --1 .

A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP URL' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. Highly porous polymers (polyHIPEs) have been prepared by the photopolymerization of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) with varying ratios of thiol and acrylate monomers. The resulting polymers have a nominal porosity of 80%, and are seen to have a well-defined, interconnected pore morphology, with average pore diameters ranging from 30 to 60 µm. The polyHIPE polymers have been shown using a colourimetric (Ellman's) assay to contain residual thiols which are reactive towards a range of (meth)acrylates (hexfluoroisopropyl acrylate, fluorescein O-acrylate and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate). Functionalization was explored using thermally-and UV-initiated radical-mediated "click" reactions and an amine-catalysed Michael addition reaction. The extent of functionalization was investigated qualitatively and quantitatively using a range of techniques (solid state NMR spectroscopy; FTIR spectroscopy; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); observation of fluorescence); high levels of conversion (up to 90-95%) were observed for the thermallyinitiated radical reaction and the Michael reaction.