Properties and medical applications of polylactic acid: A review

Abstract

Abstract. Polylactic acid (PLA), one of the well-known biodegradable polyesters, has been studied extensively for tissue engineering and drug delivery systems, and it was also used widely in human medicine. A new method to synthesize PLA (ring-opening polymerization), which allowed the economical production of a high molecular weight PLA polymer, broadened its applications, and this processing would be a potential substitute for petroleum-based products. This review described the principles of the polymerization reactions of PLA and, then, outlined the various materials properties affecting the performance of PLA polymer, such as rheological, mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties as well as the processing technologies which were used to fabricate products based on PLA. In addition, the biodegradation processes of products which were shaped from PLA were discussed and reviewed. The potential applications of PLA in the medical fields, such as tissue engineering, wound management, drugs delivery, and orthopedic devices, were also highlighted.

Effect of Chemical Treatments on the Physical Properties of Non-woven Jute/PLA Biocomposites

“…Because of their renewable origins, jute fiber and polylactic acid (PLA)-based biocomposites have attracted growing interest in recent years in various fields, including biomedical applications (Rasidi et al 2014;Hamad et al 2015). PLA is the most promising bio-based thermoplastic and offers a potential alternative to petro-based plastics because of its relatively high strength and stiffness (Rasal et al 2010;Shi et al 2015).…”

Layer-by-layer bioassembly of cellularized polylactic acid porous membranes for bone tissue engineering

“…The role of the 39 scaffold is to provide a support for cell proliferation and ability to attach onto PLA scaffolds [17][18][19]. This polymer 55 has been used to fabricate BTE scaffolds using several rapid 56 prototyping (RP) methods, mostly by fused deposition 57 modeling (FDM) [12], and 3D printing [20][21][22].…”

Green Polymers and Applications

“…PLA iyi bariyer özellikleri ve gıda temasına uyumlu olması sayesinde ambalaj sanayiinde, medikal sektörde biyobozunabilir implantlar ve ilaç taşıma sistemlerinde kullanılmaktadır (Hamad et al 2015) (Şekil 22). PLA tekstil sektöründe; ceket, spor giysileri ve gelinliklerde, nonwoven ürünlerde; otomotiv sektöründe (Şekil 28) tavan ve yer kaplamaları ile araç içi plastik akşamlarda, inşaat sektöründe laminantlar ve duvar kaplamalarında, elektrik ve elektronik alanında ise kablo kaplamalarında ve çeşitli cihaz parçalarında kullanılmaktadır (Sin, Rahmat, and Rahman 2012).…”