Federal University of Santa Catarina, EQA, Florianópolis, Brazil
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Pedro Henrique Hermes de Araújo is Professor at the Department of Chemical and Food Engineering at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. He received his undergraduate training and doctorate degree in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As part of the PhD program, he spent two years at the University of the Basque Country at San Sebastian, Spain. He did postdoctoral research at the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and spent a sabbatical year at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz (Germany) as Visiting Professor. His research interests are focused on the fundamental investigation of polymerization processes in dispersed media, in special emulsion
and miniemulsion polymerization, synthesis of monomers derived from renewable resources, synthesis and modification of biodegradable polymers and nanoparticles. He supervised and co-supervised 53 masters, 39 doctoral thesis and 5 post-docs, and published about 220 papers in peer reviewed journals. His H-factor is 41 (Google Scholar, 14th January 2024). Orcid iD: 0000-0001-5905-0158.
Polyesters are among the most extensively researched polymers for biomedical applications, given their potential for bioresorption/biodegradation and biocompatibility. Organic and organometallic catalysts, along with enzymes as biocatalysts, can be employed in polyesters production. Enzymatic catalysis holds promise due to its capacity to operate under mild conditions without generating toxic residues. The enzymatic ring-opening polymerization (e-ROP) of globalide, an unsaturated macrolactone, was conducted in various solvents and aqueous miniemulsion to yield unsaturated aliphatic polyesters. Subsequent functionalization of the main polymer chain’s unsaturations occurred through thiol-ene reactions, contributing to copolymer characteristics such as reduced crystallinity, heightened hydrophilicity, and increased affinity for various human cells.[1] Beyond e-ROP, polyesters can also be obtained through enzymatic polycondensation reactions involving esterification and transesterification between biobased polyols and diacids or diesters. Leveraging the catalytic specificity of enzymes, poly(propylene succinate-co-glycerol succinate) (PPSG) with diverse comonomer ratios was explored.[2] Results indicated that the polymer architecture was influenced by glycerol fractions, resulting in varying gel contents. Using 10 wt% of the enzyme Novozyme® 435 and a 20% molar ratio of glycerol, a PPSG with heightened hydrophilicity and low gel content was achieved. Enzyme reuse was investigated, providing insights into the interaction between polyester and enzyme support. Ultimately, this research delves into the potential of glycerol-based polyesters to broaden the spectrum of hydroxy-functionalized materials for biomedical applications.
[1] A.E. Polloni, V. Chiaradia, R.J.F.C. Amaral, et al (2020), Polym. Chem. 11, 2157-2165. DOI: 10.1039/d0py00033g
[2] C.D. Fernandes, B.F. Oechsler, C. Sayer, et al (2024), Macromolecules 57, 456–469. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.3c01533
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