Microwave assisted synthesis of ε-caprolactone: Effect of reaction conditions and PLA/PCL fabrications

Savita H.Bansode, Priyanka Khare,
P.A.Mahanwar

Department of Polymer and Surface Engineering,
Institute of Chemical Technology Matunga
Mumbai 400019.

ABSTRACT

In competition with petrochemicals polymers, Polycaprolactone (PCL) is presented as the best biobased polymer candidate for the future developments not only because these are biodegradable but also are produced from renewable resources. The most important biomedical applications of biodegradable polymers are in the areas of controlled drug delivery systems, in the form of implants devices for bone, skin and dental repairs, Microwave irradiation as a heating source for polymerization reactions is a rapidly growing branch in polymer science. Over the last decade, conventional heating has been widely applied in polymer synthesis but the current research shows that microwave synthesis is efficient alternative which takes less time for polymerization. With microwave synthesis polycondensation, free and controlled radical polymerization, and ring opening polymerization (ROP) can be done. The characterization of Polycaprolactone was done by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM),. The polymer interactions were checked by Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC). and The XRD analysis was carried out to determine structural changes.PLC/PLA nanofabrication’s done by electrospinning Technique for biomedical applications.

Keywords: Polycaprolactone, Electrospinning, Polylactic acid, Tissue Engineering