Polylactide (PLA) is among the most common biodegradable polymers, with applications in various fields, such as renewable and biomedical industries. PLA features poly(D-lactic acid) (PDLA) and poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) enantiomers, which form stereocomplex crystals through racemic blending. PLA emerged as a promising material owing to its sustainable, eco-friendly, and fully biodegradable properties. Nevertheless, PLA still has a low applicability for drug delivery as a carrier and scaffold. Stereocomplex PLA (sc-PLA) exhibits substantially improved mechanical and physical strength compared to the homopolymer, overcoming these limitations. Recently, numerous studies have reported the use of sc-PLA as a drug carrier through encapsulation of various drugs, proteins, and secondary molecules by various processes including micelle formation, self-assembly, emulsion, and inkjet printing. However, concerns such as low loading capacity, weak stability of hydrophilic contents, and non-sustainable release behavior remain. This review focuses on various strategies to overcome the current challenges of sc-PLA in drug delivery systems and biomedical applications in three critical fields, namely anti-cancer therapy, tissue engineering, and anti-microbial activity. Furthermore, the excellent potential of sc-PLA as a next-generation polymeric material is discussed.
Monofilaments such as those consisting of polyamide (PA), polydioxanone (PDS), and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), have been commonly used in various industries. However, most are non-biodegradable, which is unfavorable for many biomedical applications. Although biodegradable polymers offer significant benefits, they are still limited by their weak mechanical properties, which is an obstacle for use as a biomaterial that requires high strength. To overcome the current limitations of biodegradable monofilaments, a novel solid-state drawing (SSD) process was designed to significantly improve the mechanical properties of both PA and poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) monofilaments in this study. Both PA and PLLA monofilaments exhibited more than two-fold increased tensile strength and a highly reduced thickness using SSD. In X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses, it was determined that SSD could not only promote the α-crystal phase, but also smoothen the surface of PLLA monofilaments. To apply SSD-monofilaments with superior properties to cardiovascular stents, a shaped-annealing (SA) process was designed as the follow-up process after SSD. Using this process, three types of vascular stents could be fabricated, composed of SSD-monofilaments: double-helix, single-spring and double-spring shaped stents. The annealing temperature was optimized at 80 °C to minimize the loss of mechanical and physical properties of SSD-monofilaments for secondary processing. All three types of vascular stents were tested according to ISO 25539-2. Consequently, it was confirmed that spring-shaped stents had good recovery rate values and a high compressive modulus. In conclusion, this study showed significantly improved mechanical properties of both tensile and compressive strength simultaneously and extended the potential for biomedical applications of monofilaments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.