Polymeric Biomaterials: Structure, Properties, Function and Performance

By Prof. Satyavrata Samavedi | IIT Hyderabad

Learners enrolled: 1035 | Exam registration: 356

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Polymers play a transformative role in modern healthcare, driving innovations in drug delivery, regenerative medicine, diagnostics and medical implants. Despite their remarkable diversity and versatility, the use of polymers across most applications is guided by a common structure-property-function framework. This course offers a conceptual understanding of this framework by connecting fundamental concepts in polymer science with real-world clinical applications. Through numerous examples of biomedical polymers, scaffolds, implants and hydrogels, we will explore two key aspects of biomaterial design, namely hierarchical organization and multi-scale functionality. Building upon this foundation, we will learn specific engineering principles that guide the processing, design and use of polymers in components such as resorbable sutures, hip implants, dental resin composites, vascular access grafts, drug release systems, degradable scaffolds, stimuli-responsive hydrogels and hemostatic dressings. Throughout this journey, we will draw inspiration from the extraordinary lives and exciting contributions of scientists whose stories will bring the science alive!

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Undergraduate, masters and doctoral students interested in the topic or conducting research in the area; Researchers & industry practitioners working in chemical, biomaterial, pharma, biomedical & healthcare sectors

PREREQUISITES: College-level first-year courses in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Pharmaceutical industries, Industries producing/processing polymers for healthcare, Implant manufacturers, (Bio)medical device manufacturers, Biotechnology firms/start-ups, FMCG companies with healthcare verticals

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Chemical Engineering Biological Sciences & Bioengineering Multidisciplinary Polymers and Colloidal Materials Bioengineering
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	19 Jan 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	02 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	20 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	17 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introductory Concepts

Historical perspectives; Biocompatibility; Bioactivity; Biodegradation; Biomimicry; Biomaterial classes; Protheses; Implants; Medical devices; Design-application paradigm; Clinical case studies

Week 2: Structure-Property Relationships

-mer/Monomer/Oligomer/Polymer; Molecular structure: backbone, end-group, side-group, co-polymer; Configuration: stereoisomers, tacticity; Molar mass; Degree of polymerization; Polydispersity

Week 3: Structure-Property Relationships

Chain conformation; Size: end-to-end distance, persistence length, Rg, Rh; Architecture: linear, branched, cross-linked, brush, dendrimer; Thermoplastic; Thermoset; Elastomer; Polymer synthesis

Week 4: Temperature and Solvent Effects

Crystalline and amorphous states; Hierarchy; Folded chain model; Phase transitions; Crystallization kinetics; Melting; Glass transition temperature; Flory-Fox & Fox equations; Microstructure & modulus

Week 5: Temperature and Solvent Effects

Dissolution; Solubility parameter; Solvent quality; Excluded volume; Entanglement; Viscosity; Mark-Houwink equation; Solution thermodynamics; Ideal solutions; Lattice model; Flory-Huggins theory

Week 6: Biomedical Polymers

Synthetic polymers; Design of sutures, hip prosthesis, soft contact lenses, dental resins, vascular grafts, bone cement; Structure-property-function-application: polyurethanes, silicones, (e)PTFE, PMMA, PEG, polyanhydrides & polyesters (PLA, PGA, PLGA, PCL); Drug release case study

Week 7: Biomedical Polymers

Natural polymers; Proteins; Polysaccharides; Structure-property-function-application: collagen, silk fibroin, elastin, cellulose, HPMC, chitosan, alginate, aggrecan, heparin & hyaluronic acid; Hydrogels: types, swelling, crosslink density, mesh size, Flory-Rehner theory, Merrill-Peppas equation

Week 8: Bulk Behavior and Responses

Tensile testing: temperature, solvent, strain rate & microstructural effects; Stress-strain curves; Brittle-ductile transition; Elastomers; Tensile properties; Ageing; Other testing modes; Failure mechanisms

Week 9: Bulk Behavior and Responses

Viscoelasticity; Hooke’s & Newton’s laws; Creep; Stress relaxation; Deborah number; Hysteresis; Viscoelasticity in collagen, elastin, ligaments & tendons; Tendon testing; Linear viscoelastic models; Bulk degradation: routes & mechanisms

Week 10: Biomaterial Processing

Scaffold preparation techniques; Sterilization methods; Polymer electrospinning: physical insights, nanofiber preparation, demonstration, controlled release; Additive manufacturing & 3D printing

Week 11: Surfaces and Interactions

Biomaterial surfaces: properties, modification & ECM interactions; Protein adsorption: thermodynamic, kinetic and steric effects; Monolayer theory; Competitive adsorption; Vroman effect; Blood-polymer interactions; Hemocompatibility; Anti-thrombotic surfaces

Week 12: Biomaterial Performance

Biomaterial implantation; Inflammation; Foreign body response; Fibrous encapsulation; Immune response; Medical devices; Device testing; Biocompatibility; Translation; Clinical case studies; Device failure; Device regulation; Regulatory agencies

Books and references

Biomaterials Science: An Introduction to Materials in Medicine, Edited by William R Wagner, Shelly E. Sakiyama-Elbert, Guigen Zhang & Michael J Yaszemski, 4^th edition (2020), Academic Press
Biomaterials: The Intersection of Biology and Materials Science, Johnna S. Temenoff & Antonios G. Mikos, International edition (2008), Pearson-Prentice Hall
Introduction to Physical Polymer Science, L.H. Sperling, 4^th edition (2006), John Wiley and Sons
Polymer Chemistry, Timothy P. Lodge & Paul C. Hiemenz, 3^rd edition (2020), CRC Press
Polymer Science, VR Gowariker, NV Vishwanathan & J Sreedhar, 4^th edition (2021), New Age International Publishers

Instructor bio

Prof. Satyavrata Samavedi

IIT Hyderabad

Dr. Satyavrata Samavedi currently works as a faculty member in chemical engineering at IIT Hyderabad. He obtained his B.Tech. from NIT Trichy and his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech, both in chemical engineering. Prior to his current position, he conducted post-doctoral research in biomedical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Satya is an inducted member of the Indian National Young Academy for Science and a life member of Alpha Epsilon Lambda. He has worked as a long-term visiting researcher at NIMS, Japan, and his profile has been featured in ACS’s Molecular Pharmaceutics as a “Voices” editorial. His research group at IIT Hyderabad is broadly interested in polymeric biomaterials and pharmaceutical soft matter, wherein the overarching goal is the establishment of processing-structure-property relationships for the design of polymeric drug carriers. His lab investigates electrospinningphysics, fabricates fiber & particle-based carriers for controlled release, develops amorphous solid dispersions and co-amorphous drug mixtures exhibiting high physical stability, and builds technologies to achieve controlled co-release of multiple APIs for use in combination therapy. For more information, please visit samavedi.weebly.com

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 17, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Hyderabad .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team