Abstract
Biomimetic scaffolds provide a suitable growth environment for tissue engineering and demonstrate good potential for application in biomedical fields. Different-sized copolymerized biomimetic scaffolds degrade differently, and the degradation rate is affected by the copolymerization ratio. The study of the degradation property is the foundational research necessary for realizing individualized biomimetic scaffold design. The degradation performance of polyesters with different copolymerization ratios has been widely reported; however, the modeling of this performance has been rarely reported. In this research, the degradation of copolymers was studied with multi-scale modeling, in which the copolymers were dispersed in a cellular manner, the chain break time was simulated, and the chain selection was based on the Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm. The probability model of the copolymer’s chain break position was established as a “roulette” model, whose probability values were estimated by the calculation of the potential energy difference at different chain break positions by molecular dynamics that determined the position of chain shear, thereby fully realizing the simulation of the chain micro-break process. The diffusion of the oligomers was then calculated using the macro diffusion equation, and the degradation process of the copolymer was simulated by three-scale coupling calculations. The calculation results were in good agreement with the experimental data, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method.
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This paper is sponsored by the National Study Abroad Fund of China and supported by The National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFB1002304).
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Taohong ZHANG. She received her Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, in 2005. Her current position is an associate professor at School of Computer and Communication Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. Her research areas cover polymer degradation simulation, computer image processing, and object detection.
Yue GAO. He received his bachelor degree in computer science from Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, China, in 2017. He is currently studying for master degree at School of Computer and Communication Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. His research interests include machine learning, pattern recognition, and object detection.
Lingling ZHU. She received her bachelor degree in computer science and technology from Qufu Normal University in 2017. She is currently pursuing a master degree in computer technology at University of Science and Technology Beijing. Her research interests include polymer degradation simulation and image processing.
Qingfeng ZENG. He received his bachelor degree in Industrial Automation in 1998 from the Northeastern University, China. His current position is a lecturer at School of Computer and Communication Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. His research interests include the theoretical research on operating system and database.
Ming ZHOU. He received his Ph.D. degree in College of Mechanical Engineering from Jiangsu University, China, in 2003. His current position is a professor at State Key Laboratory of Tribology and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, China. His research areas cover artificial/biomolecular system design and integrated manufacturing, intermolecular interface effect, integrated biomolecular device multiphysical field effect, biotribology, cavitation equipment design and manufacture, ultra-fast laser micronanofabrication, and transient spectrum detection.
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Zhang, T., Gao, Y., Zhu, L. et al. Degradation modeling of degradable copolymers for biomimetic scaffolds. Friction 8, 594–603 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-019-0291-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-019-0291-5