Abstract

APPLICATION AND SYNTHESIS OF POLYLACTIC ACID AS BIOMATERIAL

Ipshita Basak*, Sannidhee Gupta, Shuvam Bhowmick and Nandan Kumar Jana

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Abstract

Significant scientific and engineering efforts have been directed toward the discovery, development, and application of polymers as a result of social and economic progress. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most promising biopolymers, because of its biocompatibility, biodegradability, mechanical strength, and processability, PLA has become a popular polymeric material for biomedical applications. Lactic acid (LA) is produced through the fermentation of carbohydrates taken from renewable resources like corn and sugarcane. PLA is thus a harmless, environmentally acceptable polymer with properties that allow it to be used in the human body. Although PLA offers a wide range of applications, it does have some drawbacks, such as a slow degradation rate, hydrophobicity, and low impact toughness. PLA can be blended with other polymers to improve associated qualities or to create new PLA polymers/blends for specific purposes. PLA mixes have been studied for medication delivery, implants, sutures, and tissue engineering, among other biological applications. Because of their high biocompatibility and mechanical qualities, PLA and its copolymers are becoming increasingly popular in tissue engineering for restoring function to damaged tissues. In this review paper, we will be discussing about polylactic acid based biomaterials, their applications preceded by the synthesis and the modifications of polylactic acid.

Keywords: Biocompatibility, Biodegradability, Biomaterial, Plasticization, Photografting, PLA.