Miscibility and hydrolytic behavior of poly(trimethylene carbonate) and poly(L-lactide) and their blends in monolayers at the air/water interface

Langmuir Monolayers as Tools to Study Biodegradable Polymer Implant Materials

Langmuir monolayers provide a fast and elegant route to analyze the degradation behavior of biodegradable polymer materials. In contrast to bulk materials, diffusive transport of reactants and reaction products in the (partially degraded) material can be neglected at the air-water interface, allowing for the study of molecular degradation kinetics in experiments taking less than a day and in some cases just a few minutes, in contrast to experiments with bulk materials that can take years. Several aspects of the biodegradation behavior of polymer materials, such as the interaction with biomolecules and degradation products, are directly observable. Expanding the technique with surface-sensitive instrumental techniques enables evaluating the evolution of the morphology, chemical composition, and the mechanical properties of the degrading material in situ. The potential of the Langmuir monolayer degradation technique as a predictive tool for implant degradation when combined with computational methods is outlined, and related open questions and strategies to overcome these challenges are pointed out.

Evaluating polymeric biomaterial-environment interfaces by Langmuir monolayer techniques

Polymeric biomaterials are of specific relevance in medical and pharmaceutical applications due to their wide range of tailorable properties and functionalities. The knowledge about interactions of biomaterials with their biological environment is of crucial importance for developing highly sophisticated medical devices. To achieve optimal in vivo performance, a description at the molecular level is required to gain better understanding about the surface of synthetic materials for tailoring their properties. This is still challenging and requires the comprehensive characterization of morphological structures, polymer chain arrangements and degradation behaviour. The review discusses selected aspects for evaluating polymeric biomaterial-environment interfaces by Langmuir monolayer methods as powerful techniques for studying interfacial properties, such as morphological and degradation processes. The combination of spectroscopic, microscopic and scattering methods with the Langmuir techniques adapted to polymers can substantially improve the understanding of their in vivo behaviour.