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. 2021 Oct 25;14(21):6381.
doi: 10.3390/ma14216381.

Effects of the Manufacturing Methods on the Mechanical Properties of a Medical-Grade Copolymer Poly(L-lactide-co-D,L-lactide) and Poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) Blend

Mariana Rodriguez Reinoso  1 , Marco Civera  1   2 , Vito Burgio  1 , Annalisa Chiappone  3 , Oliver Grimaldo Ruiz  1 , Alessandra D'Anna  3 , Carmela Riccio  1 , Ignazio Roppolo  3 , Alberto Frache  3 , Paola Antonaci  1 , Cecilia Surace  1
Affiliations

Effects of the Manufacturing Methods on the Mechanical Properties of a Medical-Grade Copolymer Poly(L-lactide-co-D,L-lactide) and Poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) Blend

Mariana Rodriguez Reinoso et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Biocompatible and biodegradable polymers represent the future in the manufacturing of medical implantable solutions. As of today, these are generally manufactured with metallic components which cannot be naturally absorbed within the human body. This requires performing an additional surgical procedure to remove the remnants after complete rehabilitation or to leave the devices in situ indefinitely. Nevertheless, the biomaterials used for this purpose must satisfy well-defined mechanical requirements. These are difficult to ascertain at the design phase since they depend not only on their physicochemical properties but also on the specific manufacturing methods used for the target application. Therefore, this research was focused on establishing the effects of the manufacturing methods on both the mechanical properties and the thermal behavior of a medical-grade copolymer blend. Specifically, Injection and Compression Molding were considered. A Poly(L-lactide-co-D,L-lactide)/Poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) blend was considered for this investigation, with a ratio of 50/50 (w/w), aimed at the manufacturing of implantable devices for tendon repair. Interesting results were obtained.

Keywords: biodegradable; caprolactone; injection and compression molding; lactide; mechanical properties; polymer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Tensile test on a P(L/DL)LA/PLCL specimen obtained by IM: (A) Specimen in the elastic deformation stage; (B) Specimen in the plastic deformation stage; (C) Specimen at failure.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stress-strain curves resulting from the tensile tests on the specimens manufactured by CM.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Stress-strain curves resulting from the tensile tests on the specimens manufactured by IM.
Figure 4
Figure 4
DSC curves of: (a) P(L/DL)LA; (b) PLCL; and (c) P(L/DL)LA/PLCL blend.
Figure 4
Figure 4
DSC curves of: (a) P(L/DL)LA; (b) PLCL; and (c) P(L/DL)LA/PLCL blend.
Figure 5
Figure 5
DSC curves of P(L/DL)LA/PLCL blend manufactured by CM and IM (Specimens). For better visualization, an offset of −0.2 has been applied to the data relative to the CM.
Figure 6
Figure 6
SEM morphology of the surfaces of the P(L/DL)LA/PLCL blend: (a–d) images correspond to specimens manufactured by CM at different magnifications.
Figure 7
Figure 7
SEM morphology of the surfaces of the P(L/DL)LA/PLCL blend: (a–d) images correspond to specimens manufactured by IM at different magnifications.
Figure 8
Figure 8
X-ray diffraction-analyses (XRD) for PLCL and the blend manufactured by Injection molding and Compression molding.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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