Polymerization of D,L-Lactide and In Situ Fabrication of PDLLA Porous Scaffolds in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Abstract:

Poly(D,L-lactide) (PDLLA) was synthesized firstly by the ring-opening polymerization of D,L-lactide using tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate as catalyst in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂). Then, PDLLA porous scaffolds were prepared in situ by scCO₂ extraction/pore forming technologies. The structure and the molecular weight of PDLLA were characterized by FT-IR, ¹H NMR and GPC respectively. The porous structure morphology of the prepared scaffolds was observed by SEM. Results showed that PDLLA was synthesised successfully in scCO₂ fluid, and the molecular weight and yield of PDLLA were affected by reaction time, temperature and the concentration of catalyst. The best polymerization conditions were obtained as follows: reaction time of 48 h, temperature of 100°C and the concentration of catalyst of 0.1%. SEM results revealed that uniformly distributed and highly interconnected pore structures with a unique long gully type microstructure were formed in the PDLLA scaffolds.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 569)
• Pages: 180-184
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.569.180
• Online since: September 2012
• Authors: Jian Hua Li, Bing Hong Luo, Wan Xu, Chang Ren Zhou
• Keywords: In Situ Fabrication, Poly(D,L-lactide), Polymerization, Porous Scaffolds, Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (scCO₂)

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