Degradable polyesters application requirements

Copolyesters (such as BIOMAX ) which combine aromatic esters with aliphatic esters or other polymer units (e.g. ethers and amides) provide the opportunity to adjust and control the degradation rates. These added degrees of freedom on polymer composition provide the opportunity to rebalance the polymer to more specifically match application performance in physical properties, while still maintaining the ability to adjust the copolyesters to complement the degradation of natural products for the production of methane or humic substances. Since application performance requirements and application specific environmental factors and degradation expectations vary broadly, copolyesters are, and will continue to be, an important class of degradable polyesters. 

Most of the commonly used degradable polymer scaffolds are mechanically strong, but for certain applications such as engineering muscles and tendons, which require considerable elasticity, these polymers are not optimal. Novel biodegradable polyesters have been developed with superior elasticity and strength that resemble vulcanized rubber and are hence termed as biorubber. Scaffolds made with these mechanically functional materials may be useful especially in engineering elastic tissue such as muscular-skeletal tissues and blood vessels. 

Biodegradable or bioabsorbable polyesters including PLAs can be applied as biomedical materials [41]. Table 8.11 [4] shows the functions and purposes of bioabsorbable polymers. Bioabsorbable biomedical materials should be nontoxic, effective, sterilizable and biocompatible. In addition, bioabsorbable biomedical materials should have the appropriate degradation rate required for each application (Figure 8.27 [13]). 

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