Biobased poly(glycerol citrate) synthesis optimization via design of experiments

Abstract Nowadays, glycerol polyesters are willingly studied, due to their potential to use in tissue engineering and drug delivery systems. Poly(glycerol citrate) is a quite new material that could have very interesting properties because of the easy formation of three‐dimensional hydrophilic networks. Moreover, both glycerol and citric acid are commonly used chemicals in the food and pharmaceutical industry. They are cheap, well available, and well‐known substances. In this work poly(glycerol citrate) was synthesized in bulk polycondensation with water removal. The polyester structure was widely characterized by FTIR, NMR, GPC, and the end group titration methods. The synthesis procedure was optimized and described via five mathematical models with the use of the design of experiments. The presented method was developed for further industrial use and allows for avoiding gelling phenomena. Based on this work, poly(glycerol citrate) could be obtained with desired properties, moreover, the process is prepared for scaling‐up.