Investigation of the Physical and Thermodynamic Properties of Polymer Lactic Acid (PLA) Biodegradable Polymer

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, I.R. IRAN

2 .Department of Chemical Engineering, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, I.R. IRAN

3 Department of Environment, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Kerman, I.R. IRAN

Abstract

Polycarboxylic acid is one of the largest bioplastics consumed in the world and has a wide range of applications in the medical and industrial sectors and has many interesting properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, high strength, and more. Poly-lactic acid, as a renewable and stable source, has a high potential for reducing oil dependence for economic and environmental development. Based on the molecular weight of the polylactic acid, it is divided into two groups: low molecular weight and high molecular weight. The physical and structural properties of the molecular chains of polymers are influenced by the molecular weight of the polymers. Therefore, by changing the size of the molecule, the properties of the polymer also change. The melting point, strength, and other physical properties of the polymer also depend on the size and dimensions of the molecule (polymeric chain length). In this study, the effect of the degree of polymerization on the physical and thermodynamic properties of biocompatible and biodegradable polylactic acid polymers was investigated using molecular dynamics simulation technique at ambient temperature and pressure. And parameters such as solubility, density, free volume, etc. were calculated and the results of the simulation were compared with the available experimental data and were well-matched with each other. The results also show that the increase in the degree of polymerization reduces the solubility parameter and does not show any significant changes in the PLA solubility parameter after 30 degrees of polymerization, and the amount of FFV does not change much and is close to 18.2%.

Keywords

Main Subjects


[1] Castro-Aguirre E., Iñiguez-Franco F., Samsudin H., Fang X., Auras R. Poly (lactic acid)—Mass Production, Processing, Industrial Applications, and End of Life, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 107:333-366 (2016).
[2] Elsawy M.A., Kim K.H., Park J.W., Deep A., Hydrolytic Degradation of Polylactic Acid (PLA) and Its Composites, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 79: 1346-1352 (2017).
[3] Bastioli C., "Handbook of Biodegradable Polymers", Smithers Rapra Publishing (2005).
[4] Hakkarainen M., Aliphatic Polyesters: Abiotic and Biotic Degradation and Degradation Products, in” Degradable Aliphatic Polyesters”, Springer: 113-138 (2002).
[5] Auras R., Harte B., Selke S., An Overview of Polylactides as Packaging Materials, Macromolecular Bioscience, 4(9): 835-864 (2004).
[6] Wu Y.L., Wang H., Qiu Y.K., Loh X.J., PLA-Based Thermogel for the Sustained Delivery of Chemotherapeutics in a Mouse Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, RSC Advances, 6(50): 44506-44513 (2016).
[7] Lasprilla A.J., Martinez G.A., Lunelli B.H., Jardini A.L., Maciel Filho R., Poly-Lactic Acid Synthesis for Application in Biomedical Devices—A Review, Biotechnology Advances, 30(1): 321-328 (2012).
[8] Vink E.T., Davies S., Life Cycle Inventory and Impact Assessment Data for 2014 Ingeo™ Polylactide Production, Industrial Biotechnology, 11(3): 167-180 (2015).
[9] Suyatma N.E., Copinet A., Tighzert L., Coma V., Mechanical and Barrier Properties of Biodegradable Films Made from Chitosan and Poly (Lactic Acid) Blends, Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 12(1): 1-6 (2004).
[10] Wu T.M., Wu C.Y., Biodegradable Poly (Lactic Acid)/Chitosan-Modified Montmorillonite Nanocomposites: Preparation and Characterization, Polymer Degradation and Stability, 91(9):  2198-2204 (2006).
[11] عزیزی، محمد طبیب، گنجی، فریبا، واشقانی فراهانی، ابراهیم، اصلاح روش خالص سازی دیمر حلقوی لاکتید، مجله علوم و تکنولوژی پلیمر، (3)21 : 251 تا 257 ( 2008).
[12] Takhulee A., Takahashi Y., Vao-soongnern V., Molecular Simulation and Experimental Studies of the Miscibility of Polylactic Acid/Polyethylene Glycol Blends, Journal of Polymer Research, 24(1): Article 8 (2017).
[13] Zhao Z. J., Wang Q., Zhang L., Liu Y.C., Different diffusion Mechanism for Drug Molecules in Amorphous Polymers, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 111(17): 4411-4416 (2007).
[14] Ramezanpour M., Leung S.S.W., Delgado-Magnero K.H., Bashe B.Y.M., Thewalt J., Tieleman D.P., Computational and Experimental Approaches for Investigating Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery Systems, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Biomembranes, 1858(7): 1688-1709 (2016).
[15] Alonso H., Bliznyuk A.A., Gready J.E., Combining Docking and Molecular Dynamic Simulations in Drug Design, Medicinal Research Reviews, 26(5): 531-568 (2006).
[16] Durrant J. D., McCammon J.A., Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Drug Discovery, BMC Biology, 9(1): Article No.71 (2011).
[17] Roccatano D., Theoretical Study of Nanostructured Biopolymers Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations: A Practical Introduction, in “Nanostructured Soft Matter”, Springer: 555-585(2007).
[18] van Gunsteren W.F., Bakowies D., Baron R., Chandrasekhar I., Christen M., Daura X., Kastenholz M.A., Biomolecular Modeling: Goals, Problems, Perspectives, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 45(25): 4064-4092 (2006).
[19] Kim H.H., Song D.W., Kim M.J., Ryu S.J., Um I.C., Ki C.S., Park Y.H., Effect of Silk Fibroin Molecular Weight on Physical Property of Silk Hydrogel, Polymer, 90: 26-33 (2016).
[20] Bernini M.C., Fairen-Jimenez D., Pasinetti M., Ramirez-Pastor A.J., Snurr R.Q., Screening of Bio-Compatible Metal-Organic Frameworks as Potential Drug Carriers Using Monte Carlo Simulations, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2(7): 766-774 (2014).
[21] Heinz H., Koerner H., Anderson K.L., Vaia R.A., Farmer B.L., Force Field for Mica-Type Silicates and Dynamics of Octadecylammonium Chains Grafted to Montmorillonite, Chemistry of Materials, 17(23): 5658-5669 (2005).
[22] Razmimanesh F., Amjad-Iranagh S., Modarress H., Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study of Chitosan and Gemcitabine as a Drug Delivery System, Journal of Molecular Modeling, 21(7): 165 (2015).
[23] Andersen H.C., Molecular Dynamics Simulations at Constant Pressure and/or Temperature, The Journal of Chemical Physics, 72(4): 2384-2393 (1980).
[24] Berendsen H.J., Postma J.V., van Gunsteren W.F., DiNola A.R.H.J., Haak J.R., Molecular Dynamics with Coupling to an External Bath, The Journal of Chemical Physics, 81(8): 3684-3690 (1984).
[25] Grønbech-Jensen, N., Farago, O. A simple and Effective Verlet-Type Algorithm for Simulating Langevin Dynamics.  Molecular Physics, 111(8): 983-991 (2013).
[28] Mollaamin F., Ilkhani I. L. A.,  Monajjemi M. Nanomolecular Simulation of the Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel Protein by Gyration Radius Study. African Journal of Microbiology Research, 4(24): 2795-2803 (2010).
[29] Bordes C., Fréville V., Ruffin E., Marote P., Gauvrit J. Y., Briançon S., Lantéri P. Determination of Poly (ɛ-caprolactone) Solubility Parameters: Application to Solvent Substitution in a Microencapsulation Process. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 383(1-2): 236-243 (2010).
[31] Cong, H., Radosz, M., Towler, B. F., Shen, Y. Polymer–Inorganic Nanocomposite Membranes for Gas Separation. Separation and Purification Technology, 55(3): 281-291 (2007).
[32] Rahmati, M., Modarress, H., Gooya, R. Molecular Simulation Study of Polyurethane Membranes. Polymer, 53(9): 1939-1950(2012).
[33] Bengtson, A., Nam, H. O., Saha, S., Sakidja, R., Morgan, D. First-Principles Molecular Dynamics Modeling of the LiCl–KCl Molten Salt System. Computational Materials Science, 83: 362-370 (2014).
[34] Hosseini, S. H., Fattahi, M., Ahmadi, G. CFD Study of Hydrodynamic and Heat Transfer in a 2D Spouted Bed: Assessment of Radial Distribution Function. Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers, 107-116 (2016).