Synthesis, Processing and Tensile Testing of a Poly(l‐lactide‐co‐caprolactone) Monofilament Fiber for Use as an Absorbable Surgical Suture

Abstract

Summary: Summary A poly(L-lactide-co-caprolactone), P(LL-co-CL), 75:25 mol % copolymer was synthesized via the bulk ring-opening copolymerization of L-lactide (LL) and e-caprolactone (CL) at 130 C for 48 hrs. The P(LL-co-CL) copolymer obtained was characterized in terms of its molecular weight (GPC), copolymer composition ( 1 H-NMR), monomer sequencing ( 13 C-NMR) and thermal properties (DSC, TGA). For processing, the P(LL-co-CL) was melt spun into a monofilament fiber with fast cooling and minimal draw in order to produce an as-spun fiber that was largely amorphous and unoriented. This enabled the required oriented semi-crystalline morphology to be gradually built into the as-spun fiber in a series of controlled off-line annealing and hot-drawing steps. The final fiber, which combined sufficient tensile strength with flexibility for use as a suture material, exhibited a stress and strain at break of 344 MPa and 70%, respectively.

Microstructure, thermal and rheological properties of poly(L‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) tapered block copolymer for potential use in biomedical applications

“…From Figure 2, the chemical shifts of the various triad sequences, such as CCC; LCC; CCL; LCL; LLC; CLL; and LLL as described in the previous works, were indicated in the spectrum 1,2,44–49 . It should be mentioned that, here, L refers to only a half‐lactide unit (OCH[CH 3 ]CO) in order to take account of their occurrence due to the cleavage of lactide unit by transesterification 30 .…”

“…From Figure 2, the chemical shifts of the various triad sequences, such as CCC; LCC; CCL; LCL; LLC; CLL; and LLL as described in the previous works, were indicated in the spectrum. 1,2,[44][45][46][47][48][49] It should be mentioned that, here, L refers to only a half-lactide unit ( O CH[CH 3 ] CO ) in order to take account of their occurrence due to the cleavage of lactide unit by transesterification. 30 The appearance of the LCC, CCL, LCL, LLC, and CLL peaks between CCC and LLL sequences indicated various mixed triad sequences, as would be expected in randomized microstructure of copolymer.…”

Efficiency of liquid tin(ii)n-alkoxide initiators in the ring-opening polymerization ofl-lactide: kinetic studies by non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry

“…where g(a) is an integral conversion dependence function. From eqn (5), E a can then be obtained from a plot of log b against 1/ T 50% at a constant g(a). Therefore, activation energy E a determination from dynamic DSC polymerization only requires determining the temperature at which 50% polymerization is achieved.…”

“…Among these, PLA-based materials are of the most interest due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability in a broad range of applications, especially biomedical applications such as absorbable surgical sutures, controlled drug delivery systems, and bone xation devices. [1][2][3][4][5] Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) can be produced from lactic acid derived from the fermentation of renewable starch-containing resources such as corn, sugar beet, and cassava. [6][7][8] Lactide (L) monomer is prepared by condensing lactic acid to low molecular weight PLA which is then thermally cracked to yield the sixmembered ring lactide monomer.…”

Development of an Antimicrobial-Coated Absorbable Monofilament Suture from a Medical-Grade Poly(l-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) Copolymer

“…Nowadays, absorbable sutures in the market are Dexon (polyglycolic acid), Vicryl (polyglactin 910), Monocryl (polyglecaprone 25), Maxon (polyglyconate), PDS II (PDO, polydioxanone), Surgisorb M (PLC, 75/25 poly­( l -lactide- co -ε-caprolactone)), and MonoMax (PHB, poly-4-hydroxybutyrate), which possess 40–60, 60–90, 90–120, 180, 200, and 400 days of complete absorption, respectively. − Among these sutures, PDO, PLC, and PHB are classified as long-term absorbable monofilament sutures. Although PLC copolymers (Figure ) have been reported in the literature for use in a wide range of biomedical applications such as drug delivery systems, barrier membranes, absorbable nerve guides, bioadhesives, and scaffolds for tissue engineering, relatively little attention has been paid to absorbable sutures, possibly because of their slow rate of absorption (typically > 12 months) in the human body. − However, for use with the specific tissues or organs such as tendon and ligament repairs or abdominal wall closure, where slow absorption is required, PLC copolymers have been shown to be effective and versatile materials that can be tailored through their composition to meet the specific property requirements of a given application. − …”