The 13th Global Conference on Polymer and Composite Materials (PCM 2026)

Abstract: Various types of porous biodegradable polymers based on polycaprolactone (PCL), polylactide (PLA), and polyurethane were synthesized and used as drug delivery vehicles for bupivacaine and carboplatin. Porous biodegradable microspheres were fabricated by successful RAFT polymerization of methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) onto PCL and PLA, which was first synthesized by ring opening polymerization of lactide followed by an oil/water emulsion-evaporation method, then finally photodegradation of PMVK blocks by UV irradiation. Biodegradable porous polyurethane nanoparticles have also been fabricated using water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion and solvent evaporation methods. These nanoparticles are composed of biodegradable and biocompatible polyfumarateurethane (PFU) and L-threonine polyurethane (LTHU), designed for degradation through hydrolysis and enzymatic activity, facilitated by the presence of ester bonds and peptide bonds within the polymer backbone. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was used to evaluate the molecular weight and molecular weight distribution and monitored the photodegradability of the block copolymers. For photodegradation by UV light under dried condition, the molecular weight of triblock copolymer was decreased gradually with UV irradiation time, reaching close to that of macro-CTA, meaning that 90% of PMVK block was photodegraded after 24 h of UV irradiation. The morphology of microspheres was spherical with smooth surfaces before UV irradiation. Microspheres fabricated only from PCL homopolymers could also retain their smooth surface after UV irradiation. However, those from PCL-PMVK and PCL-PLA-PMVK block copolymers had rough surfaces and porous structures after UV irradiation due to the photodegradation of PMVK blocks as a porous template. The porosity and shape of the microspheres and shape of microspheres were dependent on the PMVK contents and size of microspheres. In addition, the drug loading, encapsulation efficiency, and drug release profiles, using UV-Vis spectroscopy, showed the highest encapsulation efficiency with 2.5% drug, and sustained release profile.

Biography: Ildoo Chung is a Professor in the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at Pusan National University, Korea, where he has been a faculty member since 2005. He received his Ph.D. from Pusan National University in 2000, followed by postdoctoral research in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, USA, and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.
Professor Chung currently serves as Vice President of the Polymer Society of Korea and as Chair of the IUPAC Polymer Division Subcommittee on the East Asia Research Meeting on Structure and Properties of Commercial Polymers. He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Adhesion and Interface and as a member of the board of directors for several professional societies, including the Polymer Society of Korea, the Korea Society of Adhesion and Interface, the Korea Polyurethane Society, and the Asian Cyclodextrin Conference. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles and delivered more than 220 presentations at national and international conferences.
His research focuses on advanced polymer synthesis techniques, including atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, and their applications in functional polymeric biomaterials. His work encompasses drug delivery systems, polymers for dental and orthopedic applications with compatibility to both hard and soft tissues, photocurable and 3D-printable biomaterials, biodegradable polymers, and polymer-based composite systems.