Biodegradable Poly-pentadecalactone (PDL) Synthesis via Synergistic Lipase and Microwave Catalysis

Abstract A large nu mber of currently used synthetic biodegradable polymers in bio med ical engineering applications are polyesters based materials and thus research on the synthesis, properties, manufacturing and processing of aliphatic polyesters continues to be of great importance. Poly -ω-pentadecalactone (PPDL) a lactone based ring opening polymer has good mechanical properties and the presence of hydrolysable ester linkages along the poly mer chain making it desirable as a biodegradable material for diversified bio med ical engineering applications. In this paper we report the formation of PPDL using the synergistic effects of lipase and microwave (MW) technology. The effect of reaction time on the PPDL poly mer chain growth has been investigated. PPDL have been formed using lipase and MW irradiation at varying reaction time intervals (30-240 mins). Synergistic MW and lipase catalyzed poly merization of PPDL gave a number average molecular weight (Mn) of 24,997 g/ mol and a polydispersity index (PDI) of 1.93 in 240 mins as compared to Mn of 8,060 g/mo l and PDI of 2.17 using lipase and tradit ional heating. Thermal characterizat ion of PPDL fo rmed using MW and lipase catalysis showed that MW did not have a detrimental effect on the thermal properties of the poly mer obtained