Vito Calisi
Developing Safe and Effective Supercritical CO₂ Sterilization Methods for GelMA- and Poly(ether urethane)-Based Hydrogels.
Rel. Rossella Laurano, Gianluca Ciardelli, Ana Leite Oliveira. Politecnico di Torino, Corso di laurea magistrale in Ingegneria Biomedica, 2026
Abstract
Sterilization is a mandatory requirement for the manufacture and clinical translation of biomaterials and medical devices intended to contact with cells and tissues. Conventional sterilization methods, such as heat sterilization, gamma irradiation and ethylene oxide treatment, often compromise the structural and functional integrity of chemically sensitive materials, demonstrating the need for alternative approaches specifically tailored to sensitive biomaterials. Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) has emerged as a promising candidate owing to its low operating temperature, chemical inertness, non-toxicity, and tunable solvent properties. This study assessed the efficacy of scCO₂ sterilization applied to Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) and amphiphilic poly(ether urethane)s (PEUs), a natural-derived and a synthetic polymeric system, respectively, employed for the preparation of hydrogel systems with application in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
The sterilization protocol was developed and optimized using a custom-made supercritical reactor (CR), resulting in a cycle of 2.5 h at 140 bar and 40 °C with 500 ppm H₂O₂, followed by a drying procedure (3 days at 37 °C, followed by 4 days at room temperature under laminar flow) to remove potential residues
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