The degradation rate of polyanhydride (poly(sebacic acid), diacetoxy terminated, PSADT)

Abstract

The in vitro degradation rate of polyanhydride (poly(sebacic acid), diacetoxy terminated), also known as PSADT, was investigated. PSADT tablets with a circular cross-section were formed using a compression molding device, and then immersed into phosphate buffer saline (PBS) for in vitro degradation experiments. The mechanisms of degradation and the degradation rate were characterized by the change in molecular weight and reduction in specimen mass. In addition, the effects of processing temperature and the geometry of the formed PSADT tablets on the rate of degradation were studied. The surface morphology at different degradation times was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results showed that PSADT exhibited surface erosion due to the fact that near zero-order degradation kinetics was observed during its degradation process. Moreover, it is found that the geometry of tablets played an important role on the rate of degradation, while the processing temperature had no significant effect on the PSADT degradation rate.