Fabricating and Characterizing Biodegradable Polymeric Fibers for Medical Applications: Experiments with Poly(L-Lactic Acid) New Jersey Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology 2014

Poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) is accepted as a suitable material for bone pins and sutures in the medical field due to its biodegradable nature and ease of manipulation. Through this study, many of PLLA’s notable attributes were tested in order to further characterize the polymer and encourage expansion in its biomedical applications. Using X-ray diffraction, the material’s molecular structure was determined to be semi-crystalline after being annealed and amorphous prior to the heating process. Through differential scanning calorimetry it was found that PLLA has a glass transition temperature of 46.5 ̊C, demonstrating that the material will not lose any of its characteristics when used for biomedical purposes, as the body’s natural temperature is 37 ̊C. Additionally, both the annealed and non-annealed fibers were characterized using the stress/strain curve through the tensile strength test. The study established that the more crystalline annealed fibers were stiffer and more resistant to strain. Based on the results, it was concluded that the annealing process and subsequent more crystalline structure improved the fibers for their intended purpose of biomedical aids for bone and muscle injuries.