Novel PLLA composite fibers containing hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanorods with or without surface lactic acid grafting were produced by extrusion for use as reinforcements in PLLA-based bone plates. Fibers containing 0-50% (w/w) HAp nanorods, aligned parallel to fiber axis, were extruded. Lactic acid surface grafting of HAp nanorods (lacHAp) improved the tensile properties of composites fibers bette...

Bicalutamide is the most widely used non-steroidal antiandrogen for treating early stage prostate cancer, but suffers variable oral absorption due to its limited aqueous solubility. Thus, our objective was to synthesize novel biodegradable copolymers for the systemic micellar delivery of bicalutamide. Flory-Huggins interaction parameter (cFH) was used to assess compatibility between bicalutamid...

Two thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) methods have been used to fabricate biodegradable poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) tissue engineering scaffolds each with fibrous (F-TIPS) and porous (P-TIPS) microstructures. Three levels of PLLA concentration (3, 5 and 7 wt%) were employed in each fabrication method and both wet and dry specimens were studied. Simple compression testing revealed that an...

Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and poly(D-lactide) (PDLA) crystallize into a stereocomplex with a melting point 50 °C higher than the crystals of the enantiomers. The racemic crystal is formed by packing â-form 31-helices of opposite absolute configuration alternatingly side by side. Single crystals of the stereocomplex exhibit triangular shape. The drastic difference of the powder patterns evidences t...

Regeneration of complex orthopedic tissues (such as ligament, bone, and the tendon-to-bone insertion site) is problematic due to a lack of suitable biomaterials with the appropriate chemical and mechanical properties to elicit the formation of tissues with similar structure, organization, and functionality to natural tissues. Additionally, a non-trivial fraction of implanted biomaterials acquir...

Piezoelectric polymers have been widely used in a variety of applications, including tactile sensors, energy harvesting, polymer actuators, and biological devices. In this investigation, we fabricated the PLLA (poly(L-lactic Acid)-based bimorph structures for piezoelectric motor applications. First, strain measurement setup was established to measure PDLA film at different temperatures. The eff...

Abstract Electrospun fibers based on synthetic and natural polymers represent a promising approach in order to mimic the mechanical stability required cell-polymer interaction of extracellular matrix (ECM), . In this biomedical context, biodegradable medical grade poly-llactide (PLLA) gelatin are already well established. However, obtain stabilized structured PLLA/gelatin blend, crosslinking is...

A comparative study on the in vitro osteogenic potential of electrospun poly-L-lactide/hydroxyapatite/collagen (PLLA/HA/Col, PLLA/HA, and PLLA/Col) scaffolds was conducted. The morphology, chemical composition, and surface roughness of the fibrous scaffolds were examined. Furthermore, cell attachment, distribution, morphology, mineralization, extracellular matrix protein localization, and gene ...

Phase separation of a polymer solution exhibits a peculiar behavior when induced in a nanoconfinement. The energetic constraints introduce additional interactions between the polymer segments that reduce the number of available configurations. In our work, this effect is exploited in a one-step strategy called nanoconfined-Thermally Induced Phase Separation (nc-TIPS) to promote the crystallizat...

Mechanically tough poly(L-lactide) (PLLA)/ N,N -dimethylacetamide (DMAc) gels by rapid quenching using liquid nitrogen (LN) were synthesized. PLLA/DMAc solution at 110 °C was cooled room temperature (PLLA-RT), or quenched LN before keeping RT (PLLA-LN). PLLA-RT with the PLLA concentrations of 5, 8, and 11 wt% did not form gel, while 14 17 could brittle gel exhibiting coarse structures. In contr...