Premium
Porous biodegradable polyester blends of poly( L ‐lactic acid) and poly(ε‐caprolactone): physical properties, morphology, and biodegradation
Author(s) -
Tsuji Hideto,
Horikawa Gen
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.2150
Subject(s) - materials science , polyester , crystallinity , biodegradation , ultimate tensile strength , porosity , chemical engineering , peg ratio , polymer , ethylene glycol , caprolactone , biodegradable polymer , lactic acid , casting , morphology (biology) , polymer blend , composite material , polymer chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , polymerization , copolymer , finance , biology , engineering , economics , genetics , bacteria
Poly( L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA), poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL), and their films without or blended with 50 wt% poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were prepared by solution casting. Porous films were obtained by water‐extraction of PEG from solution‐cast phase‐separated PLLA‐ blend ‐PCL‐ blend ‐PEG films. The effects of PLLA/PCL ratio on the morphology of the porous films and the effects of PLLA/PCL ratio and pores on the physical properties and biodegradability of the films were investigated. The pore size of the blend films decreased with increasing PLLA/PCL ratio. Polymer blending and pore formation gave biodegradable PLLA‐ blend ‐PCL materials with a wide variety of tensile properties with Young's modulus in the range of 0.07–1.4 GPa and elongation at break in the range 3–380%. Pore formation markedly increased the PLLA crystallinity of porous films, except for low PLLA/PCL ratio. Polymer blending as well as pore formation enhanced the enzymatic degradation of biodegradable polyester blends. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry