More Precise Control of the In Vitro Enzymatic Degradation via Ternary Self-Blending of High/Medium/Low Molecular Weight Poly(trimethylene carbonate)

Liqun Yang,Wei Sun,Jing Guo,Peng Li,Qing Yang,Guiyang Cai,Zhipeng Hou

doi:10.3389/fmats.2021.733535

Abstract

To more precisely control the degradation rate of poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC), self-blending films were prepared via the ternary self-blending of pure PTMC with a molecular weight of 334, 152, and 57 kg/mol. The in vitro enzymolysis degradation of the ternary self-blending films was performed in lipase solutions. The results showed that ternary self-blending could control the degradation of PTMC by adjusting the mass ratio of high/medium/low molecular weight PTMC in the composition, and the PTMC334/PTMC152/PTMC57 films with a mass ratio of 1/4/16 showed mass loss of 85.96% after seven weeks of degradation, while that of PTMC334/PTMC152/PTMC57 films with a mass ratio of 1/1/1 was 96.39%. The former and latter’s degradation rate constant was 13.263 and 23.981%/w, respectively, and the former presented better morphology stability than the latter. The strategy of ternary self-blending could simultaneously bestow PTMC with a lower degradation rate and good morphology stability, indicating that ternary self-blending is an efficient way to control the degradation performance of PTMC more precisely.

Highlights

Biomaterials play a critical role in tissue engineering and drug delivery systems (Woodruff and Hutmacher, 2010; Danhier et al, 2012; Raquez et al, 2013)
Preparation of poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) Films and the Ternary Self-Blending Films PTMC films and the ternary self-blending films were fabricated by solvent casting
The ternary self-blending films were amorphous and transparent, and the Tg values were in the range of −16.0∼−16.8°C and decreased slightly as the mass ratio of low molecular weight PTMC increased in the composition

Summary

Introduction

Biomaterials play a critical role in tissue engineering and drug delivery systems (Woodruff and Hutmacher, 2010; Danhier et al, 2012; Raquez et al, 2013). As one of the essential biomaterials, poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) has fascinated the extensive attention of researchers given its excellent biocompatibility and well biodegradation behavior, showing great potential applications in biomedical fields (Li et al, 2020; Mohajeri et al, 2020). The incompatibility between the morphology stability and degradation rate of PTMC hinders its application in biodegradable long-term contraceptive implants. PTMC of low molecular weight presents a slower degradation rate while it deforms at room temperature (Zhang et al, 2006), usually causing an explosive release, which is undesirable in the implant systems. The increase in molecular weight can strengthen the morphology stability of PTMC, which could result in a faster

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Conclusion