In vitro monitoring of surface mechanical properties of poly(L-lactic acid) using microhardness

Poly(L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) was immersed in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution at 37.5°C for distinct times. The variation of the surface mechanical properties of PLLA samples with immersion time was followed by microhardness. These measurements showed that PLLA microhardness decreased significantly (∼ 60%) after only 30 days of immersion. The results were explained in terms of hydrolytic degradation of the samples. The dependence of microhardness with the applied dwell time was also analyzed. The creep curves were successfully described by a power law. A decrease of the creep constant k as the immersion time increased was found. Differential scanning calorimetry was also used to analyze the changes in the physical properties of PLLA, namely in crystallinity degree (Xc) and glass transition temperature (Tg), as a function of the immersion time in SBF. A significant variation in the crystallinity degree of PLLA, initially nearly amorphous (Xc = 9%), was detected after only 3 days of immersion (Xc = 37%). The interpretation of this behavior was based on the hydrolysis process suffered by PLLA. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007