Abstract
Novel bio-based aliphatic copolyesters, poly(lactic acid-co-10-hydroxy decanoate) (P(LA-co-HDA), PLH), were successfully synthesized from lactic acid (LA) and 10-hydroxycapric acid (HDA) by a thermal polycondensation process, in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA) and SnCl2·2H2O as co-catalyst. The copolymer structure was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). The weight average molecular weights (Mw) of PLH, from gel permeation chromatography (GPC) measurements, were controlled from 18,500 to 37,900 by changing the molar ratios of LA and HDA. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed that PLH had excellent thermal stability, and the decomposition temperature at the maximum rate was above 280 °C. The glass transition temperature (Tg) and melting temperature (Tm) of PLH decreased continuously with increasing the HDA composition by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. PLH showed high ductility, and the breaking elongation increased significantly by the increment of the HDA composition. Moreover, the PLH copolymer could degrade in buffer solution. The cell adhesion results showed that PLH had good biocompatibility with NIH/3T3 cells. The bio-based PLH copolymers have potential applications as thermoplastics, elastomers or impact modifiers in the biomedical, industrial and agricultural fields.
Highlights
Because of increasing worldwide concern about the shortage of nonrenewable petroleum resources, bio-based monomers and natural polymers that are made from renewable resources have attracted much attention in the past few decades [1,2,3,4,5]
lactic acid (LA) and hydroxycapric acid (HDA) could be polymerized by polycondensation in the presence of co-catalyst of p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA)
The structure of the obtained poly(lactic acid-co-10-hydroxy decanoate) (PLH) copolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) (Figure S1) and 1H NMR
Summary
Because of increasing worldwide concern about the shortage of nonrenewable petroleum resources, bio-based monomers and natural polymers that are made from renewable resources have attracted much attention in the past few decades [1,2,3,4,5]. Most of the bio-based polymers, such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), are biodegradable [6,7], which can be applied in the industrial and agricultural fields [8]. These polymers are biocompatible materials, which are of great utility in the application of neural, myocardial and bone tissue engineering [9,10,11,12]. In this paper, the synthesis and characterization of bio-based copolymers, poly(lactic acid-co-10-hydroxy decanoate) (P(LA-co-HDA), PLH) composed of LA and HDA, were described, and the degradation, thermal and mechanical properties, especially. The biocompatibility of PLH was evaluated by means of an MTT assay and cell staining
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