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Polymer Congress 2018
Polymer Sciences
ISSN: 2471-9935
Page 70
June 04-05, 2018
London, UK
4
th
Edition of International Conference on
Polymer Science and
Technology
P
olyglycolic aicd (PGA) is a biodegradable thermoplastic
that has been widely used in biomedical application since
1964. The polymer chain is the simplest aliphatic polyester,
giving rise to high stereo-regularity and hence results in high
crystallinity for PGA. Because of this molecular structure, PGA
possesses superior properties in both mechanical and gas
barrier performances. The tensile strength of high molecular
weight PGA is much higher than that of polylactic acid (PLA)
and polyethylene terephthalate PET. O2 barrier property
of PGA was extremely better than that PLA, PET and other
commercialized packaging polymers. As a biodegradable
polymer, PGA can be fully degraded into water and CO2 via
hydrolytic decomposition. The degradation rate of PGA can
be within 20-50 days depending on the environment, such as
pH, humidity, and temperature. In the present study, the high
molecular weight PGA sample was synthesized from ring-
opening polymerization of glycolide with SnCl2 catalyst. The
weight average molecular weight of the sample was measured
to be 187150 and the crystallinity was 481%. Mechanical
property of the PGA sample was tested and compared with
PLA, poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and
PET. O2 permeability of the PGA sample was measured from
compression moulding sheets (thickness 0.61mm). The O2
permeability of the PGA sheets was found 100 times lower
than that of PLA. The degradation of PGA in water at different
temperatures was measured and the effects of pH and
temperature on the rate of degradation were investigated.
Recent Publications
1. W.Liu and C. Sun (2016) CN205575974U Screw
extruder and have this screw extruder’s cyclic annular
lactide preparation facilities, China
Biography
Dr. Bowen Tan is working as a marketing manager at Pujing Chemical
Industry Co., Ltd. She obtained her first degree from Sichuan University,
China and a Ph.D. in the barrier property of bio-based polymer membrane
from Loughborough University. Bowen’s research interests lie in the field
of bio-based and bio-degradable polymer. She has been investigating
polyglycolic acids (PGA) for many years and has expertise on the
processing and characterization of PGA products. She is Lead/co-author
of papers published in well-regarded industrial and professional journals
and presenter at international research conferences.
tanbowen@pjchem.comBowen Tan, Polym Sci 2018, Volume 4
DOI: 10.4172/2471-9935-C2-012
Investigation on the mechanical, barrier and degradation
properties of polyglycolic acid synthesized via ring-opening
polymerization
Bowen Tan
Pujing Chemical Industry, UK