Thermal Treatment and Enzymatic Degradation of PLLA Single Crystals

2 Thermal Treatment and Enzymatic Degradation of PLLA Single Crystals 

The thermal behavior of PLLA single crystals was first investigated by Miyata and Masuko [95]. They reported that the crystal surface becomes rough and the lamellar thickness increases by annealing. Because most microscopic studies reported so far were performed ex situ by TEM and AFM, they have not been able to follow the behavior without the influence of sample cooling from the annealing temperature 

FIGURE 22.21 Gel permeation chromatograms of PLLA single crystals before and after partial enzymatic degradation by proteinase K at 37°C for 50 h. Reprinted with permission from Ref. 91. Copyright 1998, American Chemical Society. 

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