Effect of hydrogen peroxide sterilization on properties and degradation of poly (ε-caprolactone) and poly (L-lactide-co-ε-caprocaltone)

• Main Author: Sia, Denia.
• Other Authors: Subramanian Venkatraman
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/38921
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

There are several techniques available to sterilize biomedical devices such as autoclave, gamma and E-beam radiation. However, there are drawbacks in those techniques especially towards biodegradable polymers. Therefore, in this study, the feasibility of using hydrogen peroxide process for the sterilization of biodegradable polymers, i.e. poly (ε-caprolactone), PCL and poly (L-lactide-co-ε-caprocaltone), PLC and its effect on degradation behavior, physical, thermal and mechanical properties were investigated. The results indicate that the hydrogen peroxide sterilization did not cause significant influence on molecular weight and decomposition temperature of both PCL and PLC. In addition, it was observed that sterilization process did not affect the thermal and mechanical properties of both PCL and PLC polymers too. It may imply that hydrogen peroxide does not cause any degradation to the polymers during the sterilization process. For the study of degradation behavior, it was observed that both non-sterile and sterile polymers, PCL and PLC, suffered from drop in decomposition temperature, mass, molecular weight and mechanical properties during the ten weeks of degradation study. Furthermore, there is no noticeable difference between the non-sterile and sterile polymers in term of the degradation profiles. However, there is an increase in degree of crystallinity of PCL and new PLLA crystal formation in PLC samples observed during the degradation study. Overall, hydrogen peroxide sterilization, in general, is a feasible method to sterilize biodegradable polymers.