Abstract
In this study, composite films of stearic acid–modified magnesium oxide whiskers (Sa–w-MgO)/poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) were prepared through solution casting, and the in vitro degradation properties and cytocompatibility of the composites with different whisker contents were investigated. The results showed that the degradation behavior of the composite samples depended significantly on the whisker content, and the degradation rate increased with the addition of MgO content. Furthermore, the degradation of the composites with higher contents of whiskers was influenced more severely by the hydrophilicity and pH value, leading to more final weight loss, but the decomposition rate decreased gradually. Furthermore, the pH value of the phosphate buffer solution (PBS) was obviously regulated by the dissolution of MgO whiskers through neutralization of the acidic product of PLLA degradation. The cytocompatibility of the composites also increased remarkably, as determined from the cell viability results, and was higher than that of PLLA at the chosen whisker content. This was beneficial for the cell affinity of the material, as it notably led to an enhanced biocompatibility of the PLLA, in favor of promoting cell proliferation, which significantly improved its bioactivity, as well.
Highlights
Over the last few decades, poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) has been given significant attention, owing to its advantages of good biocompatibility and processability, biodegradability, and bioresorbability, which are desirable in the biomedical field, especially for bone repair [1,2,3,4]
It was noted that the change in the hydrophilicity of the PLLA matrix improved with the addition of fillers such as organic montmorillonite (OMMT), which prominently accelerated the hydrolytic degradation of PLLA, playing another key role in controlling the degradation process of PLLA [25,26]
In order to investigate the effect of Magnesium oxide (MgO) whiskers on the properties of PLLA, such as its crystalline structure and crystallization behavior, the samples of PLLA and composites were tested after being soaked using XRD and DSC, and the results of XRD testing are shown in Figure 1 and Table 1
Summary
Over the last few decades, poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) has been given significant attention, owing to its advantages of good biocompatibility and processability, biodegradability, and bioresorbability, which are desirable in the biomedical field, especially for bone repair [1,2,3,4]. Some drawbacks limit its wider application [5,6,7,8,9,10], its degradation properties, which are an extremely important factor in bone repair, as accumulation of the lactic acid degradation product from PLLA can cause issues such as aseptic inflammation in vivo, hydrophobicity and lower biological activity that are unfavorable to the viability of the bone cell, and biodegradation that cannot be well controlled according to the requirement of bone formation To solve these problems, many researchers have attempted to improve PLLA properties through various methods [11,12,13,14,15]. Studying the degradation behavior in vitro can provide fundamental experimental results for the degrading properties of PLLA used in bone repair in vivo
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