In vitro hydrolytic degradation of poly(para-dioxanone) with high molecular weight

The in vitro hydrolytic degradation of high molecular weight poly (para-dioxanone) was studied by examining the changes of weight retention, water absorption, pH value, tensile strength, break elongation, thermal properties, and morphology of high molecular weight PPDO in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (pH 7.44) at 37°C for 8 weeks. During the degradation, all samples’ weight retention decreased and water absorption increased significantly, whereas hydrolysis rate of PPDO bars varied with molecular weight. Compared with lower molecular weight samples, higher molecular weight PPDO samples exhibited higher hydrolysis rate. The samples’ glass transition temperature (Tg) decreased notably, while the degrees of crystallinity (Dc) increased. The samples almost totally lost their tensile strengths and breaking elongation after 4 weeks of degradation. The results suggested that the stability of PPDO in vitro hydrolytic degradation increased with the increase of molecular weight.