Control of microstructure in poly-lactic acid and the effect on biodegradation

TL;DRAbstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable polymer with numerous applications in tissue regeneration and repair. The degree of crystallinity governs the rate of degradation in vitro and in vivo. In this project, the effect of the microstructure on the degradation of Polylactic Acid (PLA) is studied.
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\nPLA samples were crystallised to 40% crystallinity at various temperatures between 90°C and 140°C and then subjected to enzymatic degradation using the enzyme Proteinase K. Hot stage microscopy showed that on increasing the crystallisation temperature an increase in the growth rate of spherulites and a decrease in spherulite nucleation was observed. Short-term (five day) and preliminary long-term (ten week) biodegradation studies were conducted on samples crystallised to 40% at 90°C, 108°C and 118°C. DSC and FT-IR analysis in short-term degradation studies showed little difference in samples before and after degradation. However, it is seen that as the crystallisation temperature

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