Mechanical and Thermal Properties Biodegradable Microcellular Foams Based on Polylactide and Polycaprolactone

Abstract

In this work, the producing of a series of biodegradable polylactide (PLA)/polycaprolactone (PCL) microcellular foams by rapid solvent casting method was investigated and discussed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the average pore size in the structure was around 7 μm and the final microstructure was a combination of open and closed cells. The effect of PCL segments added on the mechanical and thermal behaviors was studied. According to the results, PLA/PCL biomaterial had lower glass transition temperature (Tg) in comparison with neat PLA polymer. In addition, the tensile strength and elastic modulus became poor when PCL added in. For obtained better mechanical and thermal properties, EC-blocked polyisocyanate (EC-bp), which was synthesized from reaction of toluene 2, 4-diisocyanate with dimethylol propionic acid and trimethylolpropane followed by addition of ethyl cellosolve (EC), were introduced. It was found that the tensile strength and elastic modulus were significantly increased by addition of EC-bp, which can be explained by coupling effect occurred between PLA and PCL.